Dutch forestry percentage low by EU standards

LUXEMBOURG - Although the Netherlands seems to have plenty of trees, the forest-covered areas only amount to eleven percent of the country’s territory. According to EU-statistics, that places the Netherlands near of the bottom of the list. Ireland rates still lower on the list with ten percent. It bottoms out with tree-scarce Malta at one percent. Finland tops the list with 77 percent, followed by Sweden at 75 percent, both far above the EU-average of 42 percent. Germany and France also enjoy a rich tree inventory. The Dutch do harvest more wood, however. Between 2001 and 2006, the Dutch harvest has risen twenty percent, supplying 1.1 million cubic metres out of EU’s 426 million cubic metres.