With 11 million hectares, German forests cover about 31% of the land surface. German forest stands have the highest total wood volume in Europe, with a mean of 330 cubic metres per hectare. They are an important source of resources for the German timber industry and sequester up to 7.5% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in Germany. Air pollution that results in acid rain and heavy metal deposition as well as in nitrogen saturation of forest sites is still of importance. The impact of the emissions and their interaction with climate change are monitored nationwide in close cooperation with the German Federal States within the framework of the National Forest Inventory (BWI), the Forest Soil Survey (BZE), the Forest Condition Survey (WZE), the Intensive Forest Monitoring (UN-ECE/EU-Level II) and the Greenhouse Gas Monitoring (THG).