The results of a cross-country comparison of the annual average soil loss values are reported in Table 5. Considering the predicted gross erosion values in undisturbed forests, the annual rates aredriven by the density of the canopy cover, the rainfall erosivity,the soil erodibility and the topography. The forestlands that are naturally more exposed to the soil erosion processes are located in Slovenia, Italy and to a lesser extent also in the high mountain areas of Switzerland, Austria, Cyprus and Spain. Accelerated soilerosion rates caused by forest disturbance occur in Slovenia, Italyand Austria with values that are about three times above the European average