Forests in the Mediterranean region

The Mediterranean region presents specific climate and ecological characteristics determined by geographical position, morphology and socio-cultural issues. Variety and diversity represent two of the main features, fully mirrored by high biodiversity rates, the large number of endemisms and the multiple functions played by forests. Today forest cover is the result of deep interactions between abiotic (e.g. climate and limiting soil-relief) and biotic factors. Among the second ones human activity has contributed to the transformation and shaping of forest landscapes, leading to degradation and fragmentation of forest ecosystems. Traditional wood and non-wood uses of forests, together with the predominance of grazing activity within the forests and the repeated occurrence of natural and/or human induced fires have modeled a patchy landscape, composed of different types of vegetation in different states of maturity. However different forest characteristics in terms of cover, trends, ownership and dependency can be observed in different Mediterranean sub-regions. Around 73% of Mediterranean forests are concentrated in the Northern sub-regions that also host nearly 79% of the total wood volume and 75% of the total biomass. Outside the Northern sub-regions no country with a forest cover rate higher than 20% can be found. Moreover, while in north Mediterranean area forests are normally expanding, in the south, particularly in the Maghreb, the ecosystems remain very fragile and vulnerable.