State of France's forest resources

The purpose of this article is to study the current state and dynamics of forest resources in France. The article examines a number of indicators characterizing the state of forest resources in France, which ranks fourth in forest area among European countries. Since the forests of France are located both on its continental territory and on “overseas” territories, the article considers the territorial-administrative division of France, taking into account the presence of forests in certain regions. Such indicators of the state of forest resources as dynamics of forest area, structure of forest ownership, forest cover, species composition of forest stands, standing timber stock are considered. The change in forest area as a whole, by ownership type and by department in the continental part of France is considered on the basis of forest inventory data, carried out in the period from 1978 to 2018. The variety of stands in the forests of France was studied in the article by types of plantations (deciduous, coniferous, mixed), by species, by European regions of France and in dynamics for 40 years from 1985 to 2016. The growing stock in the forests of France was estimated by departments, in forests with different types of property, different species composition, including the change in this indicator over the years. The statistics discussed in this article are collected from the French National Forest Inventory, which has become a mandatory survey of forest resources since 2017, and are obtained from open materials published by the National Institute for Geographic and Forestry Information (IGN).