However, as no information is available that would allow a subdivision of the area into Forest and OWL, all of this area was classified as Forest. As mentioned earlier, FAO reported that forests of Turkmenistan are in “public ownership”. According to these, the total area of land actually covered with forests is 4,126,800 ha or 41 per cent of the lands administered by the forestry authorities, which constitutes 8.8 per cent of the total area of the country. Turkmenistan’s forests and OWL perform mainly protective functions, which is why they have been categorized as belonging to Category I under the new Forest Code.