European Primary Forest Database (EPFD) v2.0

Primary forests are scarce in Europe and continue to disappear at an alarming rate. Despite these losses, we know little about where such forests still occur. Here, we present an updated geodatabase and map of Europes known primary forests. Our geodatabase harmonizes 48 different datasets of primary forests, and contains 18,411 individual patches (41.1 Mha) spread across 33 countries. When available, we provide information on each patch (name, location, naturalness, extent and dominant tree species) and the surrounding landscape (biogeographical regions, protection status, potential natural vegetation, current forest extent). To assess the robustness of our geodatabase, we checked each patch for forest disturbance events using Landsat satellite-image time series (1985-2018). We estimate that 94% of the patches in our database did not experience significant disturbances that would alter their primary forest status in the last 30 year. Our database is the most comprehensive dataset on primary forests in Europe, and will be useful for biogeographic and ecological studies, and conservation planning to safeguard these unique forests.