Danish scientists from the University of Copenhagen found that there is an unaccounted forest cover of 15 million hectares outside the forest areas in Europe. This corresponds to 1 billion tons of biomass. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Science Developments.
Experts used artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and satellite imagery to search for hidden forest plantations. These tools helped identify trees in urban and rural areas across the European region. AI accuracy was 92.4%.
The highest percentage of tree cover outside of forests was found in the Netherlands at 25%, of which 8% grows in cities. This is followed by the UK (22%) and Ireland (20%).
“In European countries with many large areas of forest, individual trees outside the forests are of little importance. However, in countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK and Ireland, where forest resources are limited, these trees play an important role in biodiversity, microclimate, habitat, landscape conditions and hydrological cycles,” said Brandt, Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.
happened before knownChina’s massive reforestation project is helping reduce industrial emissions.