The accuracy and consistency of the statistics of forest resources, fellings and natural losses reported by countries for use in the UN-ECE/FAO Forest Resource Assessments are insufficient with regard to their importance as a basis for estimating forest policy implications and for developing policies and management regimes for multi-benefit forestry in a Europe that is becoming economically and politically more integrated.

A way to improve the situation would be a system of repeated sampling measurements and observations by countries covering all relevant forest resource variables, including those concerning the health and multi-benefit management of forests. Sampling units should be tied to time and space coordinates, which permit the calculation of results for ecological and economic regions regardless of national boundaries.

Wood harvesting and utilization statistics should be of such a quality that reliable forest balance estimates are possible. The weakest point in the current utilization statistics concerns the amount of wood used for fuel and household purposes. Moreover, the definitions employed should be consistent so that country results would be comparable.

Analyses concerning the genetic, density, age and health situation and development trends of forests should be made with reference to the serial successions and climatic climaxes of forest plant communities under the effects of changing environmental factors.

In order to obtain a reliable assessment of the economic profitability of forestry, which has been decreasing and is negative in large areas, income and cost analyses should be made and applied to the rationalization and modernization of working methods, equipment and machinery, and to develop a pricing and valuation system for all material and non-material forest benefits, as well as a system for financing sustainable multi-benefit forestry.