Forests in the Mediterranean region are not only important because of their high ecological value, but also due to their contribution to the human welfare in the region. The multifunctional nature of these forests has since long been recognised. Already in the 15th century, in some parts of the Mediterranean region, the forests were mainly managed for soil and water conservation and only secondary for wood production. Also in the present, the Mediterranean forests are appreciated, not only for producing wood forest products, but rather for the provision of non-wood forest products and services.
There has been an incipient work over the last few years on valuing different aspects of Mediterranean forests. This valuation attempts reached beyond the sole market price observation. In the frame of the MEDFOREX project an inventory was conducted with the objective of estimating the Total Economic Value of Mediterranean forests. The inventory compiled data on direct and indirect use values as well as different non-use values, for 18 countries in the Mediterranean basin.
The EFIMED database resumes the data on the state of the forest, quantity and value of wood and non-wood forest goods and services collected by the MEDFOREX inventory and also presented in the book Valuing Mediterranean Forests ( eds. Merlo M. & Croitoru L.).
Access the Mediterranean Forest Database