AREA AND INVENTORY DATE - IPC 2004
France
Total area of poplar plantations: 253 700 ha (1998), of which 21 000 ha scattered in agroforestry (1993:
245 000 ha including scattered trees), or 1.52% of the forest area. The total standing volume in 1997 was about 23.8 million m³ (1993: 27.3 million m³) of which 4.21 million m³ were scattered and in lines. Annual increment: 1.26 million m³ (1993: 1.6 million m³). In the medium-term the standing volume is expected to increase again. The area of poplars increased about 5% between 1994-1998.
Belgium
As no recent census was made of the whole Belgian territory, the total area covered by poplars may be still estimated as 40 000 ha. A forest inventory was made in 1998 in the Walloon Region, which showed that the block plantations of hybrid poplars cover 6.5% of the hardwood stands and pure poplar stands (with more than 70% of poplar) cover 8 250 ha (92.5% of which are privately owned).
Italy
The poplar area in Italy amounts to 118 825 hectares, with 70 000 ha situated in the Northern Italian plains (1995, last update). The area of poplar cultivation, after a recent decrease, is now stable. The oldest poplar planted areas (stands more than six years old) occupy about 25 000 hectares.
The standing volume amounts to 4 million cubic metres. In 1997 poplar wood production was 1.9 million cubic metres, or 50% of total domestic wood production.
Spain
The Second National Forestry Inventory (1995) reported a total area of poplar plantations of 102 830 ha, where Populus alba, Populus tremula and Populus sp., were the dominant species. According to official statistics, the poplar plantation has decreased significantly after the application of new regulations in 1993:
Poplar plantations established in 1998 - 1 156 ha (1992 - 3 216 ha)
Poplar plantations established 1989-1993 - 16 310 ha
Poplar plantations established 1994-97 - 8 544 ha
After some years of decrease, the willow plantation area is now stable. The area of osier production, the main willow application in Spain, has decreased to about 1 423 ha (1998).
Germany
There are no exact data on the current levels of felling of poplar roundwood, since cuts and sales of poplar raw wood are recorded and entered together with the wood species group beech. Annual poplar felling is estimated at 150 000 to 300 000 m3. The foreign trade of Germany in poplar wood is not significant, but exports clearly exceed imports. About the market trends, a distinct poplar wood market has not developed in the Federal Republic of Germany. Accordingly, the wood-working and processing industry is not geared to this type of wood. All in all, poplar wood sales are unsatisfactory because of scattered availability and resulting low returns
United Kingdom
Areas of new planting of poplar continue to be small, but there is increased
interest in Short Rotation Coppice, principally of willow, that resulted in an
upsurge in planting in 1999. The Census of Woodlands for England has not been
completed yet, but it should be completed shortly. There was a total standing
volume of 773 800 m³ of standing poplar recorded in 1982, on a total of 12 757
ha. In the absence of clear figures on the area of poplar felled and not
replanted, it is a reasonable presumption that about 10 000 ha of standing
poplar remain in England. Amounts in Scotland and Wales in 1982 were 329 ha and
5 583 ha respectively.
Romania
Native poplars 60 732 ha (7 560 million m³ standing); cottonwood poplar + P. deltoides 52 824 ha (6 695 million m³) (1999 statistical records).
Native willows 18 557 ha (1.1 million m³) and selected willows 24 273 ha (2.7 million m³)
The area of plantations of poplar and willow is 2.5% of the national forest area. Of the total stands of poplar and willow, 95.1% are owned by the State and managed by the National Forest authority
The area of poplar and willow has decreased by around 25% due to hydrotechnical works, especially along inland rivers, where site conditions have been greatly modified.
All native poplar and willow stands are naturally regenerated. The cottonwood stands and selected wood stands have been created by plantations.
In the last four years, a volume of 3.3 million m³ of poplar and willow wood has been harvested, representing 5.9% of the total national wood harvested. Of the total harvested volume, between 1996-1999, about 1.6 million m³ have been used in industry, as logs and wood for pulp, and over 800 00 m³ for meeting the needs of rural households. In that period Romania did not import poplar and willow wood.
Hungary
The total area of hybrid poplar stands amounts to 109 300 ha and the area of native poplar stands is estimated as 47 400 ha (1999). The annual new planting area (afforestation) has increased in the period: for native poplars in 1999 it was 210 ha/yr. (1994, 109 ha/yr.) while for hybrid poplars and willows in 1999 it was 1 500 ha/yr. (1994, 986 ha/yr.)
There are 18 poplar varieties with state approval and 9 other candidate varieties. Several evaluation trials are being carried out for new clones. A black poplar preservation program was initiated in 1997. DNA-markers have been used to estimate the genetic diversity in Populus nigra and to study hybrid poplars and genetically pure black poplar.
Yugoslavia
The total area of poplars and willows, derived from new inventories, is 53 931 hectares, of which plantations of Euramerican poplars cover 37 444 hectares (70%), European poplar (black and white) 1 322 hectares (2%), and willow 15 205 hectares (28%). Native poplars and willows are found on 1.89% of the total forest area.
Estimated standing wood volume of poplars and willows is 8.3 million m3. The annual felling cut in all forests of Yugoslavia is from 3.000.000 to 3.500.000 m3 gross wood volume and other yield of poplars and willows is about 355.000 m3, in total is about 11% of total annual wood volume cut in Yugoslavia.
In this period three poplar clones were listed in the national register. Work on the identification of poplar clones is being carried out and a clone classification, based of the leaf morphogenetic parameters and the shapes of isoenzyme variability, was determined. The country, which participates in the EUFORGEN project on Populus nigra conservation, has established the distribution and size of populations in different regions.
Croatia
The area of natural stands and plantations of poplar and willow is as follows:
natural stands of poplars (P. nigra, P.alba) - 5 360 ha
poplar plantations - 14 169 ha
natural stands of willow (Salix alba) - 6 634 ha
willow plantations - 4 144 ha
Around 300 hectares of plantations and intensive field crops crops are planted in Croatia every year.
Special attention is being paid to preserve and rehabilitate natural poplar and willow stands; a second clone archive was established with 63 European black poplar clones. Croatia is included in the European programme EUFORGEN.
Bulgaria
The total area of poplar plantations was estimated in 1999 as about 25 645 ha (representing more than 1 million m³ of standing volume). But presently there are no precise statistical data. Since 1996, around 1 000 hectares of poplar have been planted in Bulgaria every year. Poplar and willow represent more than 1% of the total Bulgarian forest standing volume.
A new catalogue of the ecological and biological characteristics of poplar clones growing in Bulgaria was presented. Several ex-situ and in-situ stands for the conservation of clones and hybrids of poplar were developed.
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