European Deforestation: History, Causes & Countries

Since the Stone Age, European deforestation has been happening on a small scale.¹ As people in Europe slowly began to adopt agriculture from about 10,000 BC, the pace of deforestation increased.² Clearing forest to make space for farmland remains common practice to this day.³

Six thousand years ago, more than two-thirds of central and northern Europe was forested.⁴ Now, just one-third remains.⁵

How has European agriculture caused deforestation?

Demand for agricultural land and timber has fuelled deforestation in Europe for millenia.⁶ Agriculture remains responsible for 80 per cent of deforestation globally today.⁷ Cutting down forests provides the land needed for grazing cattle and growing crops. Destroying the natural beauty and unique diversity of forests remains a small price to pay in pursuit of sustenance or – worse – profit. 

Trees in the British Isles have suffered immense losses thanks to agriculture. An extreme shortage of wood occurred as early as the sixteenth century. A significant expansion in farmland, industry and trade with an accompanying population boom caused this to happen. Consequently, a transition to coal as the primary heat source became necessary as the price of firewood skyrocketed.⁸

Which country has the most trees?

The UK’s overall tree cover remains sparse at just 13 per cent.⁹ This is far below the average of 31 per cent worldwide and 38 per cent for the EU as a whole.¹⁰ In Europe, Sweden has the largest forest area with 30 million hectares.¹¹ This represents 67 per cent of the Scandinavian country’s total land mass.¹² Spain and Finland also have extensive tree coverage at 27 and 24 million hectares, respectively.¹³

European deforestation and climate change

Forests play a critical role in climate change mitigation by absorbing and sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2). As plants grow, they use photosynthesis to take CO2 from the air. They convert it to carbon which they store in their biomass and the surrounding soil. Simultaneously, they release oxygen. In this process, they can store vast quantities of carbon for centuries. By keeping CO2 from the atmosphere, they prevent this greenhouse gas from heating up the planet. But, if they are cut down and burned or left to rot, they release this harmful gas again.¹⁴ 

Thanks to this process, forests are among the cheapest and most effective ways of combatting climate change.¹⁵ Deforestation currently accounts for more than 10 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions.¹⁶ Reducing deforestation is therefore crucial to limiting a global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.¹⁷ To be effective, however, we must also reduce our emissions from burning fossil fuels.¹⁸

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3. Vancura, V. (2020). The history of European forest exploitation. [online] European Wilderness Society. Available at: https://wilderness-society.org/history-of-european-forest-exploitation/ [Accessed 23 Feb. 2021].
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5. Belmaker, G. (2018). More than half of Europe’s forests lost over 6,000 years. [online] Mongabay Environmental News. Available at: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/more-than-half-of-europes-forests-lost-over-6000-years/.
6. Belmaker, G. (2018). More than half of Europe’s forests lost over 6,000 years. [online] Mongabay Environmental News. Available at: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/more-than-half-of-europes-forests-lost-over-6000-years/.
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8. When Britain Ran out of Wood. (1979). Challenge, [online] 22(5). Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/05775132.1979.11470558?journalCode=mcha20 [Accessed 23 Feb. 2021].
9. Forest Research. (n.d.). Forest cover: international comparisons. [online] Available at: https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/forestry-statistics/forestry-statistics-2018/international-forestry/forest-cover-international-comparisons/ [Accessed 23 Feb. 2021].
10. Forest Research. (n.d.). Forest cover: international comparisons. [online] Available at: https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/forestry-statistics/forestry-statistics-2018/international-forestry/forest-cover-international-comparisons/ [Accessed 23 Feb. 2021].
11. ec.europa.eu. (n.d.). Over 40% of the EU covered with forests. [online] Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/EDN-20180321-1.
12. ec.europa.eu. (n.d.). Over 40% of the EU covered with forests. [online] Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/EDN-20180321-1.
13. ec.europa.eu. (n.d.). Over 40% of the EU covered with forests. [online] Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/EDN-20180321-1.
14. Environment. (2019). How to erase 100 years of carbon emissions? Plant trees. [online] Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/how-to-erase-100-years-carbon-emissions-plant-trees [Accessed 23 Feb. 2021].
15. World Resources Institute. (2019). Forests in the IPCC Special Report on Land Use: 7 Things to Know. [online] Available at: https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/08/forests-ipcc-special-report-land-use-7-things-know.
16. www.ucsusa.org. (n.d.). Tropical Deforestation and Global Warming | Union of Concerned Scientists. [online] Available at: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/tropical-deforestation-and-global-warming#:~:text=When%20trees.
17. Milman, O. (2018). Scientists say halting deforestation “just as urgent” as reducing emissions. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/04/climate-change-deforestation-global-warming-report.
18. Milman, O. (2018). Scientists say halting deforestation “just as urgent” as reducing emissions. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/04/climate-change-deforestation-global-warming-report.