Forest and woodland: habitat fragmentation
The forest and woodland in the Netherlands consists of a few large forests and many small woods
 |
 |
Trends
Most plots designated as forest in the Netherlands are smaller than 10 ha (left-hand figure). Together, these account for only 11% of the amount of forest in the Netherlands (right-hand figure). There are 53 forests larger than1000 ha and these account for about 57% of Dutch forest.
Historically there used to be many small woodlands in the Netherlands. Most were to supply wood to farmers, or were on land that was unsuitable for agriculture. In the twentieth century the afforestation of heathland resulted in large forest complexes, primarily of conifers.
Technical note
The left-hand figure shows the number of forest plots, the right-hand figure shows the area per area class. The data are from the digitised topographical map of the Netherlands. "Forest" includes deciduous, coniferous and mixed woodland that is not in parks or the urban area. Woods less than 50 m apart are assumed to be contiguous.
References
- Kalkhoven, J. (1997). Versnippering of overlevingskans van diersoorten in versnipperd landschap. In: Toestand van natuur, bos en landschap. Natuurverkenning '97. Achtergronddocument 1. IKC Natuurbeheer. Wageningen.
