Changes in mainland Portuguese forest areas since the last decade of the XXth century

According to data from the Forests and Nature Conservation Institute (ICNF), the potential land suitability in Portugal for forest use is estimated to be about 59.4% (5.3 million hectares). However, according to the 6th National Forest Inventory, published in 2010, the effective area occupied by forests is only 35.4%. In the present work, we analyze the evolution of land use in mainland Portugal since the last quarter of the twentieth century, with a particular focus on forest areas.