National Forest Inventories of The Netherlands

26 March 2024

Since September 2012, forest inventories have been carried out as part of the National Forest Inventories (NFI). NFI-6 took place in 2012 and 2013, NFI-7 ran from 2017 to 2021, and the current NFI-8 covers the period from 2022 to 2026.

The purpose of these inventories is to map the condition of Dutch forests: for example, what is the tree species composition, what is the timber stock in the forest, how much deadwood is available, and how much timber is harvested? As of the current inventories (NFI-8), tree vitality is also being assessed. This provides insight into how healthy (vital) Dutch forests are. By comparing different NDIs, it is also possible to track how forests develop over time. In total, approximately 3,600 monitoring points are distributed across the Netherlands.

New in NFI-8 are the additional measurements in small wooded areas, including landscape elements, hedgerows, tree rows, and other small forested areas. These measurements provide a better understanding of how the Dutch landscape is developing and how vital (healthy) it is. Also new in NFI-8 are extra measurements in Habitat Directive areas. These often contain rare forest types that are protected under the European Habitat Directive. The data collected through the forest inventories are essential for the mandatory reporting on the condition and development of these Habitat Directive areas to the EU.

The NFIs are commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN).Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature. The project is being implemented by a consortium consisting of the Probos Foundation, Wageningen Environmental Research, Borgman Beheer Advies, and Bureau van Nierop. Probos' responsibilities include obtaining permits for the work, processing the data for the forest inventories, and contributing to data analysis and reporting.

Information

Expert(s): Sander Teeuwen, Gino van Maaren & Robin Zwijgers
Client(s): Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature
Year: 2012 en 2013 (NFI6), 2021 en 2022 (NFI7), 2022-2026 (NFI8)