Traditional markets for Mediterranean forest products

Forests represent a key-resource for the Mediterranean region and have supplied wood and non-wood products for centuries; nevertheless little attention has been given to the economic evaluation of market goods they provide. Tentative estimations of the economic impacts of climate change on Mediterranean forests and their provisioning functions should start from the evaluation of the resource stocks and forest-related products. Wood production in the region shows different patterns depending on product type (timber/firewood), time and sub-region. About 73% of wood production is concentrated in Northern sub-regions, while it is much lower in Southern and Eastern sub-regions. Considered globally, roundwood production represents about 0.2% of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the Mediterranean area, while its contribution to primary sector GDP has diminished from around 8% (1990 and 2000) to around 6% (2005 and 2010). The Southern and Eastern sub-regions show the lowest increase in growing stock values per hectare, while in North-Western countries the increment in growing stock is linked to a decrease in roundwood production value per hectare. If timber production has increased and firewood production decreased, imports have followed an opposite trend: the region includes two of the top four firewood importers worldwide (Italy and Turkey). As regards non-wood forest products, Spain, Italy and France are responsible for about 90% of the overall production value (US$1.1 billion). Non-wood forest products are equivalent to 9% of the estimated roundwood production value in the whole Mediterranean region, with notable differences between countries. The relative incidence of the value for these products on total forest production exceeds 20% just in the case of Lebanon, Spain and Italy. Although additional research is needed, the economic importance of traditional provisioning functions of Mediterranean forests appears to be confirmed. Enhancing the offer of Mediterranean market products and increasing their role in the rural economy could help in establishing a stable income flow, thus reducing forest protection costs.