Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development

e-mail contact: ESTAT-SDG-MONITORING@ec.europa.eu

The indicator is part of the EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set. It is used to monitor progress towards SDG 15 on protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of land which is embedded in the European Commission’s Priorities under the European Green Deal.

SDG 15 seeks to protect, restore and promote the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial, inland-water and mountain ecosystems. This includes efforts to sustainably manage forests and halt deforestation, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, halt biodiversity loss and protect threatened species.

The indicator can be considered as identical to global SDG indicator 15.1.1 "Forest area as a proportion of total land area".

The indicator measures the proportion of forest ecosystems in comparison to the total surface area. The data used for this indicator derives from the Land Use and Cover Area frame Survey (LUCAS) and they have been mapped to the FAO definitions, distinguishing between the categories 'forests' and 'other wooded land'.

% of total land area
i. all forest area FAO
ii. forest FAO
iii. other wooded land FAO

Calendar year.

The indicator is produced according to the quality standards of European Statistics. Details on accuracy can be found in the metadata of the source datasets (see link to “Related metadata”).

ESS (LUCAS)

Data source: Land Use and Coverage Area frame Survey (LUCAS) (LAN_LCV_FAO)

Data provider: Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

Every 3+ years

Indicator is updated every 3 to 4 years. Complete and updated ESS data release information can be accessed via Eurostat release calendar.

> T+2 years

New data points are disseminated within two years after the reference year.

All EU MS

Data are presented for all EU Member States, and the United Kingdom, with the following EU totals:

EU_V: The changing EU aggregate refers to 23 EU Member States for 2009. Data for Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta, Romania are not included. The Aggregate 'European Union (aggregate changing according to the context)' covers the countries of the 2009 survey also for the reference years 2012 and 2015 to ensure comparability over time.

EU27_2020: European Union – 27 countries (from 2020)

EU27_2007: European Union – 27 countries (2007-2013)

EU28: European Union – 28 countries (2013-2020)

All EU MS

Data are comparable between all EU Member States.

5 to 10 years

Presented time series (including EU aggregates) starts in year 2009.

3 to 4 data points

Length of comparable time series without methodological break is 4 data points.

Analysis of indicator is presented in Eurostat's annual monitoring report on Sustainable development in the EU (progress towards SDGs in the EU context).

See table  sdg_15_10

Eurostat dedicated section on SDGs: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/sdi/overview

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