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| A weekly newsletter zooming in on Europe through local perspectives. Every Friday, one topic explored by five independent newsrooms. | | IN THIS ISSUE | §01 · In focus — Europe's forests in climate stress
§02 · The local view — Berlin, Riga, Warsaw, Vienna and Zagreb
§03 · The podcast — Listen to the latest episode and join the conversation
§04 · From the newsrooms — Recent reporting from the lensEU network |
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| §01 · IN FOCUS | Europe's forests in climate stress | Forests cover about 40% of Europe and remain central to people’s lives, economies, water systems, biodiversity and climate resilience. Some 90% of Europeans visit a forest at least once a year, a survey by the University of Warsaw showed last year. According to the survey, people value | natural, diverse forests with old, tall trees, mixed stands and rich structure far beyond their timber value. | Those qualities are increasingly under pressure because Europe is warming roughly twice as fast as the global average. Copernicus data show the continent has already warmed by about 2.3°C to 2.4°C since the pre-industrial era, compared with about 1.3°C to 1.4°C globally. Warmer conditions are making weather more severe and less predictable, with fires, prolonged drought, storms and insect outbreaks increasingly shaping – or disturbing, perhaps – the future of forests. | A March 2026 study in Science found that, even if global warming is limited to about 2°C, the annually disturbed forest area could rise from 180,000 to around 216,000 hectares by the end of the century. Southern and Western Europe are expected to face the strongest changes, while Northern Europe may be less affected overall but still see local hotspots of serious damage.\ | Last year, more than 1,800 forest fires were recorded in the EU, releasing about 38mn tonnes of CO2. In Spain and Portugal, fires burned 640,000 hectares, or 1% of the Iberian Peninsula, under conditions now expected roughly once every 15 years in the current climate. | Adaptation is therefore unavoidable unless Europe wants to avoid irreversible loss of its forest cover. Forests will change, traditional timber-focused management will be challenged, and protecting more areas, improving resilience and valuing forests for water, cooling, carbon storage, biodiversity and public wellbeing are becoming essential. | Wojciech Kość, OKO.press |
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| | | Berlin · Germany · CORRECTIV | How Healthy Are Germany’s Forests? | The health of Germany’s forests is closely tied to the impacts of climate change. Although annual precipitation in Germany has increased by around 8 per cent since 1881, many regions are experiencing growing water stress. The reason is simple: winters are becoming wetter, while summers are increasingly hot and dry. Since 2018, a series of drought years has put significant pressure on forests, agriculture and water resources. Rising average rainfall and worsening drought are therefore not contradictory – they are two sides of the same climate crisis. | The consequences are clearly visible in Germany’s forests. Drought, storms and pests such as the bark beetle have damaged vast woodland areas. As a result, forests are increasingly losing their role as carbon sinks. In some years, German forests have even released more carbon dioxide than they absorbed. | At the same time, a global imbalance is becoming apparent. Forests absorb an estimated five to eight billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, yet humanity emitted more than 37 billion tonnes in 2022 alone. In recent years, that figure is likely to have risen further. A fact-check by CORRECTIV examined the numbers in detail. | In theory, forests can help mitigate climate change, but they cannot offset it on their own. This highlights the close connection between human activity and the growing demands placed on nature’s limited capacity to compensate for our emissions. | Another challenge is the increasing competition for water resources. One prominent example can be found in the Hessian Ried region near Darmstadt. Four years ago, a court case examined whether decades of groundwater extraction by the water supplier Hessenwasser had contributed to the decline of around 13,000 hectares of forest. | In 2022, CORRECTIV’s climate team analysed around 350 court cases involving disputes over water use. The findings revealed a clear trend: during the ten-year period studied, legal conflicts over water increased in 11 of Germany’s 16 federal states compared with the previous decade. In the state of Hesse alone, the number of water-related court cases rose from eight to fourteen. | One case the team investigated more closely was the Darmstadt West Forest, where many mature beech and oak trees have been damaged or have died. While environmental groups and forestry experts have raised concerns about groundwater extraction, the utility points to mitigation measures, including replenishing groundwater supplies with treated water from the Rhine. | The case illustrates how climate change is intensifying existing resource conflicts in Germany. As water becomes scarcer, the interests of drinking water suppliers, agriculture and forest conservation are increasingly competing with one another. | Lilith Grull, CORRECTIV.Europe |
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| | Riga · Latvia · TVNET | Climate, Fire and Beetles: What Threatens Latvia’s Forests | Forestry, woodworking and furniture production together account for up to 6% of Latvia’s GDP, while exports from the sector reach €3.3 billion, or 17% of the country’s total exports. | Yet even though forests cover more than half of Latvia’s territory — 3.4 million hectares — they remain under threat from several factors. | Climate change is a major part of the problem. It contributes to the spread of forest pests, especially the European spruce bark beetle, and in the future could even reduce the diversity of tree species growing in the country. | Fire also poses a serious threat to Latvia’s forests. By mid-May, 169 forest fires had already been registered and extinguished in Latvia, covering a total area of 170 hectares. Of this, 40.6 hectares were young plantations. Up to 90% of forest fires are caused by human activity or negligence. And while combating climate change requires a global effort, every individual can still be more careful when it comes to protecting forests. | At the same time, the government is not sitting idle. The forestry industry and responsible officials are adapting forest management practices: more climate-resilient seedlings are being planted, and the creation of mixed forests is being encouraged in order to reduce risks from diseases and pests. | However, this is still far from a happy ending. While non-governmental organizations are calling for a reduction in logging volumes, forest owners argue — not without reason — that excessive restrictions could harm Latvia’s economy. | The fight to save Latvia’s forests continues. | Andrijs Timofiejevs, TVNET GRUPA |
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| | Warsaw · Poland · OKO.press | Polish pines "overwhelmed" by warming climate | Poland’s forests are entering the same climate-driven crisis that is reshaping forests across Europe, with particular vulnerability because, like Latvia’s, they are largely made up of species such as pine, which is seen struggling in warming conditions. | The damage is already visible. In April, local foresters managing forests near Warsaw warned that professional inventory and drone monitoring had revealed pines forests were being decimated. | “While only a few trees were dying recently, today the number of dead and dying pines is overwhelming,” they said. Similar concerns are voiced from all over the country, which is covered by forests in 30%. | The Polish case is also political. The state forest management company earns billions of euros each year from timber sales, which makes it a valuable political asset for whoever wins power in elections. | But it has been too slow to respond to demands for stronger protection of forest areas, better water retention and improved access to forests near large cities. These, apparently obvious solutions, are often being questioned on political grounds as harmful to timber production and local economies. | Wojciech Kość, OKO.press |
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| | Vienna · Austria · Die Presse | The forest is no longer helping as it used to | Almost half of Austria is covered in forest. This is good news not only for animals, nature lovers, hunters and foresters, but also for the country’s politicians. After all, as trees grow in the forest, they sequester carbon from the atmosphere, thereby helping the country to meet the EU’s climate targets. At least, that has almost always been the case up to now. | The latest results of the forest inventory show that the so-called standing volume – that is, the standing timber in the forest, excluding deadwood – has declined in the most recent survey period, 2018–23. The reason is climate change. “For the first time, the effects of climate change on timber stock in Austrian forests are now becoming apparent over recent years. This currently stands at 1,174 million cubic metres of standing timber in commercial forests,” says Alexandra Freudenschuß, Head of the Forest Inventory at the Federal Research Centre for Forestry (BFW). | If there is less timber in the forest, less CO 2 can be sequestered in domestic forests. Heat, drought, storms and pests such as the bark beetle have led to a particularly high number of trees dying and having to be disposed of as damaged timber. The persistent drought meant that the remaining trees regrew less vigorously, and the parched soils also emitted more greenhouse gases. | Extreme weather conditions have characterised recent years. This is particularly relevant for Austria because emissions from land use (LULUCF) are also counted towards the EU’s climate targets. Until now, this sector has always been a significant CO 2 sink for Austria. In other words, the country was able to emit some of the greenhouse gases that the trees had sequestered without failing to meet its commitments. From 1990 to 2022, Austria was still able to offset an average of 11.8 million tonnes of its greenhouse gas emissions each year through its forests. However, over time, the climate-protecting power of the forest has declined by 80 per cent. | Melanie Klug and Matthias Auer, “Die Presse” | https://www.diepresse.com/19252076/klimawandel-der-wald-hilft-nicht-mehr-wie-frueher |
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| | Zagreb · Croatia · Telegram.hr | Trees, love songs and bullets | On the one hand, forests are one of Croatia's greatest assets. According to the latest national forest inventory, as much as 53 percent of the country's land area is covered by forests, significantly above the EU average of around 40 percent. Moreover, unlike in most European countries, where planted monoculture forests prevail, Croatian forests retain a high degree of naturalness. As much as 97 percent of the forest area consists of multi-layered mixed forests, making them more ecologically resilient to climate change and natural disturbances. | On the other hand, the impacts of the climate change are becoming increasingly costly. Certain tree species, particularly the narrow-leaved ash, are declining and dying because of changes in groundwater regimes and fungal diseases. The pediculate oak has also suffered extensive damage from extreme weather events. During a powerful storm in 2023, more than one million trees were broken or uprooted in just a few hours, causing an estimated €136 million in damage. Meanwhile, increasingly frequent summer wildfires in coastal pine forests are expanding areas of bare karst. | Third, as many as half of the respondents in a recent survey did not know that forests help mitigate the effects of climate change. Consequently, the condition and management of forests are almost entirely absent from political debate. | Except, of course, when corruption is involved. In September last year, 14 employees and executives of the state-owned forestry company Hrvatske šume were taken into custody on suspicion of accepting a €100,000 bribe in connection with timber sales. | There is also a political battle over control of Croatia's vast forest resources. Following the 2024 parliamentary elections, the far-right Homeland Movement (Domovinski pokret) entered the governing coalition. They secured the Ministry of Agriculture, which—according to the alleged but never published coalition agreement—supposedly also included oversight of Hrvatske šume. However, the senior coalition partner, HDZ, was reluctant to give up such a valuable asset. | A major conflict erupted early last year. The Homeland Movement began demanding control of Hrvatske šume, accusing its management of running a "den of thieves". The dispute coincided with the release of a video showing the Minister of Agriculture firing a pistol into the air from a speeding car while listening to love songs. The minister was forced to resign, but it took ten months before the Homeland Movement gained full control of Hrvatske šume. Currently, the forestry company has slipped out of the spotlight. The governing coalition, meanwhile, is fighting over other issues.
Jasmin Klarić, Telegram.hr |
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| §03 · THE PODCAST | | Goodbye pine, goodbye spruce: how Europe’s forests are dying | „Last summer, more than 1 million hectares burned across Europe — an area the size of Cyprus. Almost every member state was affected, even Sweden, far to the north. Last year, our civil protection mechanism was activated 18 times because of wildfires in Europe and neighbouring countries, setting a record” | Hadja Lahbib, EU Commissioner for Equality; Preparedness and Crisis Management | |
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| In the next episode of our podcast, Wojciech Kość, OKO.press’s climate and environment reporter, looks at how the climate crisis is changing Europe’s forests and why their future is not only an environmental issue, but also a social, economic and political one. | We speak with Dr Christopher P. O. Reyer from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, a co-author of the study published in Science that is also discussed in our newsletter. | Dr Reyer stresses that when we discuss threats to forests, this is not only about future models and projections, but about processes that are already clearly visible in the data. He identifies the “big three” threats: fires, droughts combined with insect outbreaks, especially bark beetles, and storms. He points out that climate change weakens trees and alters forest conditions, including in Northern Europe, where less frozen soil makes trees more vulnerable to windstorms. | We also quote EU Commissioner Hadja Lahbib, who speaks of a “new reality”: the wildfire season starts earlier, lasts longer and is more intense. She recalls that spring fires in countries such as the Netherlands, Czechia, Germany, Italy and Poland have already triggered EU crisis-response mechanisms. | Anna Line Brokane from Latvia’s TVNET presents the example of Latvia, where forests are seen as “green gold” and are a pillar of the economy. Climate change poses a particular threat to spruce, and the response is expected to include more resilient seedlings and mixed forests. At the same time, the dispute over limiting logging shows the tension between nature protection and the interests of the timber industry. | Finally, Wojciech Kość reminds listeners that forests should be treated as critical infrastructure: they regulate water, cool cities, protect soil, store carbon and support people’s well-being. Adapting them to climate change is becoming a condition for Europe’s future quality of life. |
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