Turkey's wood reserves, potential trends and future perspectives of wood use

Wood is the major source of energy in rural Turkey. Forests and wooded land cover 20.2 million hectares (ha) of Turkey's 77 million ha and are 99 percent state owned and managed. As a result of destructive use, productive forests cover only about 6.6 million ha, equivalent to 8.5 percent of land area. The remaining 2.2 million ha consist of degraded unproductive forest cover and 11.3 million ha of wooded land. The total forest potential of Turkey is around 935 million m(3) with an annual growth of about 28 million m(3). Fuel wood is most likely the most important commodity coming from the forests. Fuel wood is the fourth largest source of energy in Turkey. In Turkey, fuel wood production is 17.6 mtoe, in 1999. Turkey is decreasing its consumption from 5177 Goe to 5512 Goe in 1995.