Approximately one third (32%) of Germany is forested. Forests have been able to survive or establish themselves where the climate, soil conditions or relief made arable farming or settlement less suitable.

Of the 11.4 million hectares of forest in Germany, 48% is private forest. 29 % of the forest is owned by the federal states, 19 % by corporations and 4 % by the federal government.

The data is based on the Federal Forest Inventory, which in turn is based on the legal definition of a forest. § Section 2 of the Federal Forest Act states that a forest is any land area planted with forest plants. In addition, the area to be recorded must be at least 0.1 hectares in size and 10 metres wide.

Source:

Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (ed.) (2014): Federal Forest Inventory 3 at: https: //bmel-statistik.de/fileadmin/SITE_MASTER/content/Holz-und_Forstwirtschaft/Bundeswaldinventur3.pdf (last accessed on 08.05.23)