Forests

The economic value of forests has long been recognized, but the ways in which that value is calculated and the management policies adopted in consequence have all too often resulted in overuse and irreversible destruction. This is spectacularly obvious around the Mediterranean basin, but it is also true in northern Europe. These four case studies, commissioned by the OECD, examine failures of forest management in Spain, Italy, Germany and Sweden. They look at both market and intervention policies and show how each can further the destruction of the forests, and they set out ways in which future policies can evade the mistakes of the past.