Sep 30, 2011. /Lesprom Network/. National statistics released by the Forestry Commission show that the UK has seen a rise of 19% in wood imports, thanks to the recent push for biomass fuels. The figures suggested that the total value of wood products, including timber, imported in 2010 into the UK totalled GBP 6.8 billion and comprised 10 million cubic metres of wood and 8 million tonnes of pulp and paper, as KMS Baltics reported. UK forests were also able to help counter carbon dioxide emissions by removing over ten million tonnes from the atmosphere, another welcome side effect of the increase in biomass demand throughout the UK. Woodland area in the United Kingdom in 2011 stands at 3.1 million hectares, with an additional 8,000 hectares of new forest created in 2010-2011. According to Herr Wagener Lohse of the forestry and climate change project Futureforest, Europe's woodlands are key to sustainable economic development as they currently support more than four million jobs and trap 286 million tonnes of carbon a year.