Forests are important for maintaining air quality, and for protecting the soil, contributing to maintaining its fertility. According to the European Commission’s investigation in 2015, 32.7% of Romania’s surface is covered by forests, close to the European average (36.2%).

Regarding biodiversity, Romania offers rich patrimony to the European Union, with its numerous plant and animal species that are rare in other parts of Europe. In the context of climate change processes, the field faces a series of major challenges: acceleration of the erosion of biological diversity, which reflects in the disappearance of some plant and animal species, fragmentation of many species’ habitats, restriction or destruction of types of habitats or ecosystems from transition areas.

This subfield has 2 main indicators and 11 secondary indicators, meant to offer a broader image of major areas covered here. The main indicators of this subfield are: Freshwater resources, by categories, respectively Forest area (% of total land area at national level). The secondary indicators cover the following areas: quality of groundwaters; renewable water resources; water abstracted by sector of use; quantity of water used by categories; organic matter emissions; percentage of population connected to wastewater treatment plants, forest area (by countries and regions); volume of wood in cubic feet; protective function of forests; percentage of annual wood harvesting (in total volume), respectively gross annual growth of wood supplies (cubic feet).