seven times more forest cover than the European Union and almost double the combined forest area of Canada and the United States while containing the greatest area of natural forest (UNECE, 2003).
     There  has  been   a   decrease  in  other  wooded  land (OWL—woodlands not dense or contiguous enough to be classified as forest) of approximately 0.2% p.a. in Europe, similar to that of North America (TBFRA, 2000). Europe (not including the Russian Federation) now has forest cover of around 35% (FAO statistics), similar to that of the US, after having reached a low of 25% during the 19th Century. Since the 1950s, there have been proportionately fewer fell­ings compared to the increasing forest growth and this has made it possible to supply more wood, while simultaneously increasing the growing stock.
     Throughout NAE there been a steady increase in both deciduous and coniferous plantations since early in the 20th century. This is now accelerating as planting technologies have improved and more  agricultural land has become available for conversion to forest (Figure 2-16) There is a distinct trend towards a greater proportion of coniferous wood (now 69% in W. Europe, 66% in CIS) being planted. European plantations make up 17% of world plantations with the Russian Federation having the greatest area in Eu­rope. (FAO, 2000; TBFRA, 2000; UNECE/FAO, 2000). Overall, European and Russian forests sequester around 540 million tonnes of carbon per year, some 14% of the world's total sequestration, with US and Canadian forests sequestering about 200 million tonnes of carbon per year (UNECE/FAO, 2000). There has been an increasing trend for forests to be planted specifically for carbon sequestra­tion, funded by schemes set up as a response to the Kyoto Protocol. (Bowyer and Rametsteiner, 2004; MA, 2005)

2.6.2 Forest ownership and control
Over the past twenty years there has been a strong trend away from public towards private ownership of forests in W and S Europe, but almost all forest land remains in state ownership in the CEE countries, although this is changing towards private ownership in former Soviet states now in the EU-25.

     Fifty-seven percent of all US forest land is privately owned, but 94% of Canada's forests are publicly owned. Approximately 10% of US forestland is legally protected from commercial forestry, more than double that protected in 1953. Around 66% of US forest land is classed as tim-berland (forest capable of producing in excess of 20 cubic feet per acre per year and not legally protected). Since 1953 the area of timberland has had a net loss of one percent pri­marily because it has become legally protected. Seventy-one percent of US timberland is privately owned.
     In general forest growth rates exceed exploitation levels throughout NAE. Net growth rates have not been increas­ing as rapidly as in the past, while harvest levels have re­mained relatively stable since 1986. Increased imports have addressed the additional resource demands. Since 1960 the US forest resources have continued to improve in condition and quality as measured by increased average size and vol­ume of trees; however, if quality is measured as a function of optimum stand density, i.e., optimum number of trees per acres for stands of a given age, then the overall quality of many stands has deteriorated (Smith et al., 2002).
     Canada is the largest exporter of forest products with total exports valuing $44.1 billion (Natural Resources Can­ada, 2000). In 2002, one in 17 jobs was directly or indirectly linked to forests.
     Less than two-thirds of annual forest growth in Europe (excluding Russia) is harvested, so the volume of standing wood in forests is growing. In Russia only 14% of annual growth is currently being harvested, less than the proportion being harvested in the 1970s (TBFRA, 2000).
     The past thirty years have seen an increase in forest ac­cessibility through construction of new logging access roads into remote areas. Conservation protection legislation has also been applied to many inaccessible areas over the past thirty years. In W Europe over 85% of forest is now avail­able for wood supply; in CEE, where more forest is pro­tected, 64% is available for wood supply (TBFRA, 2000).

Biodiversity
In both North America and Europe there has been an over­all decrease in forest biodiversity due to reductions in areas