12 March 2010: The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have begun collecting data on the state of forests and forest management in Europe. Data will be collected from 46 countries in the European region, and will include information on forest health and vitality, productive and protective functions, biodiversity and social and economic dimensions of forest management.

UNECE/FAO have invited national correspondents to provide measurements of a variety of numeric data, such as forest carbon stock, timber trade and employment, as well as a description of policies, institutions and financial instruments. The results of the data collection, which is performed every four years and is based on the pan-European Criteria and Indicators for sustainable forest management, will be presented in the “State of Europe’s Forests” report. This report will be released at the sixth Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE), which will be held in Norway in 2011. [UNECE Press Release]