Woods and forests cover some 15 million hectares, 26% of France's total area, placing France third in the EU countries in terms of forest area, behind Sweden and Finland. Forest area in France has increased by 35% since 1945 and continues to grow by about 30,000 hectares each year. Most trees are deciduous (2/3), while the remaining third consists of conifers.
The National Forestry Office (Office national des Forêts -ONF) is responsible for managing national forests (1,750,000 hectares) and those belonging to local authorities (2,850,000 hectares). The remaining 10,500,000 hectares belong to some 3,800,000 private owners.
Forests in France are a source of biological and scenic wealth, a place for excursions and relaxation; they also yield an annual harvest of 55 million cubic metres of timber.