Production That Grows Forests, Industry That Grows Türkiye

As Türkiye’s forest area has expanded, its growing stock and annual increment have also increased, while planned production has developed within this biological capacity. The next objective is to combine sustainable forest management with a strong industry, high value-added exports and a reliable carbon policy.

Production is a friend of the forest. While unplanned and unregistered interventions that disregard the carrying capacity of ecosystems damage forests, production carried out in accordance with forest management plans, silvicultural principles and the requirements of forestry science is an indispensable part of sustainable forest management.

Forest production based on science and sound technical principles does more than supply raw materials to industry. It also contributes to forest regeneration, maintaining forest health, increasing growth capacity and strengthening resilience against climate change.

During young stand tending and cultural treatments, thinning, cleaning, rehabilitation works, sanitation fellings and regeneration practices, it may be necessary to remove trees that are suppressed, diseased, damaged or have completed their development. These interventions regulate stand density and allow healthy trees to make better use of light, water and nutrients. They support the development of appropriate species, reduce combustible material accumulated in forests and improve the ability to respond to wildfires.

Of course, it is not possible to claim that every cutting operation is inherently beneficial. Positive results can only be achieved when interventions are carried out in the right place, at the right time, using appropriate methods and under the supervision of authorized forest engineers. Ensuring that production does not exceed annual increment, protecting biodiversity, safeguarding soil and water values and reforesting harvested areas are fundamental conditions of this system.

Türkiye’s Forest Resources Continue to Grow

According to the Türkiye Forest Resources 2025 data published by the General Directorate of Forestry, the country’s forest area has reached 23.375 million hectares. This corresponds to approximately 30 percent of Türkiye’s total land area.

Source: General Directorate of Forestry, Türkiye Forest Resources 2025.

Forest area, which stood at approximately 20.199 million hectares in 1973, increased to 23.375 million hectares in 2025. This represents an increase of 15.7 percent in forest area.

An even more remarkable development has taken place in forest growing stock. Türkiye’s standing timber stock increased from 935.5 million cubic meters in 1973 to approximately 1.807 billion cubic meters in 2025. In other words, the country’s forest growing stock increased by more than 93 percent during the same period.

Annual current increment also rose from 28.1 million cubic meters to 50.9 million cubic meters. This development shows that Türkiye’s forests have expanded not only in area, but also in quality, volume and biological production capacity.

The total annual allowable cut specified in the 2025 forest management plans is approximately 26.1 million cubic meters. This corresponds to around 51 percent of the annual current increment of 50.9 million cubic meters.

From a forestry perspective, the essential safeguard is not banning production, but ensuring that production volumes remain tied to annual forest increment and forest management plans. In Türkiye, the planned annual allowable cut is approximately half of the annual current increment.

Of Türkiye’s forests, 40.5 percent are allocated to economic functions, 51.8 percent to ecological functions and 7.7 percent to sociocultural functions. This distribution demonstrates that forestry in Türkiye is not based solely on timber production. It addresses protection, water, soil, biodiversity, public health, recreation and rural development functions together.

Türkiye’s industrial roundwood production stood at approximately 7.3 million cubic meters in 2000. According to the General Directorate of Forestry’s 2025 activity data, industrial roundwood production reached 25.428 million cubic meters.

It would be incorrect to interpret this increase simply as “more trees being cut.” During the same period, forest growing stock, annual increment, planning capacity, road and production infrastructure and the share of productive forest areas also increased. The predominance of fuelwood use declined while the utilization of wood as an industrial raw material and a source of value-added products became stronger.

Today’s production is programmed according to the biological production capacity defined in forest management plans. Indeed, industrial roundwood production of 25.4 million cubic meters in 2025 remained well below the annual current increment of 50.9 million cubic meters.

The growth of Türkiye’s forest products industry and the growth of its forest resources have not been alternatives to one another. While planned production has continued, forest area, growing stock and annual increment have also increased.

Sustainability therefore does not mean stopping production. The main objective should be to strengthen the forest’s growth capacity, keep production within this capacity and ensure that harvested wood is used with the highest possible added value.

The Forest Products Industry Is a Stakeholder in Sustainable Forestry

The wood-based panel industry transforms raw materials of different qualities and diameters generated through forestry activities into economic value. Small-diameter wood obtained from tending operations, materials with limited use in other sectors, industrial residues and technically suitable recovered wood can be utilized in MDF, particleboard and OSB production.

Without this industry, a significant portion of these raw materials could be directed toward low-value uses or left in forests, potentially creating additional maintenance costs and wildfire risks. Through market mechanisms, the panel industry helps support the economic sustainability of forest tending operations.

The sector also contributes to:

• Reducing dependence on imported inputs through the use of domestic and renewable raw materials
• Employment for forest villagers and cooperatives
• Development of the transport, machinery, chemical, logistics, furniture and construction sectors
• Returning industrial residues and suitable recovered wood to the economy
• Increasing the use of domestically produced intermediate goods in furniture exports
• Storing the carbon contained in wood throughout the service life of products

Türkiye is currently one of Europe’s and the world’s leading producers of MDF, particleboard and OSB. This capacity consists of far more than factories alone. Behind it is an extensive value chain comprising forest engineers, forestry workers, cooperatives, transport companies, technical personnel, machinery manufacturers, designers and the furniture industry.

The forest products industry is not a rival to forests, but an economic and social stakeholder in sustainable forestry. The sector earns its standing by using domestic resources efficiently, creating rural employment and transforming renewable materials into value-added products.

Industrial Policy from Development Plans to the Green Transition

Joint planning of forestry and the forest products industry is not a new approach in Türkiye. The Fourth Five-Year Development Plan covering the 1979-1983 period represented an important historical milestone in the development of today’s structure.

The Plan set concrete targets for production and protection roads, forest management plans, forest boundary determination, afforestation, erosion control and rangeland rehabilitation. During the Plan period, the construction of 31,000 kilometers of production roads, 5,000 kilometers of protection roads and 13,500 kilometers of stabilized roads was envisaged together with forest management planning covering 11.3 million hectares.

The Plan called for afforestation activities to be carried out with the long-term raw material requirements of the forest products industry in mind. It envisaged establishing plantations based on fast-growing species in areas with suitable ecological conditions and developing resources particularly to meet the small-diameter wood requirements of the fiber and particleboard industries.

Timely renewal of forest management plans, optimal management of growing stock, utilization of the potential productivity of forest land and prevention of disruptions to production were also among the Plan’s core objectives.

One of the notable provisions of the Fourth Plan was the transition toward consolidated production methods in accordance with forestry techniques, efficient use of machinery fleets, development of year-round operations, completion of infrastructure and training of personnel.

The development of firebreak roads and strips, research into controlled burning techniques and increasing the effectiveness of cooperatives established by forest villagers in forest operations and the utilization of forest products were also included among the objectives.

Given the conditions of the period, the Fourth Plan’s approach was primarily based on securing raw material supply and supporting domestic industry. The Plan envisaged avoiding wood exports and regulating production according to domestic sector demand in a manner that would prevent supply shortages.

Protecting forests, planning production, securing industrial raw materials and supporting the development of forest villagers are not separate tasks.

The Twelfth Development Plan covering the 2024-2028 period takes the raw material supply and industrialization approach established in the Fourth Plan to a more advanced stage through today’s goals of green transformation, exports, circular economy and carbon markets.

The Plan explicitly includes the following objectives:

• Establishing forests resilient to climate change
• Developing management plans that increase the carbon sink functions of forests
• Extending the useful life of forest products as much as possible and increasing reuse and recycling
• Developing voluntary carbon markets and green certification practices
• Supporting the international activities of forestry companies in Türkiye
• Aligning forestry statistics with international standards

“Forest-based products and services will be diversified with an export-oriented approach within the framework of sustainable forest management principles and the sector’s share in the economy will be increased.” – Twelfth Development Plan, Policy 501

Under this objective, the establishment of specialized organized industrial zones for forest products in regions with extensive forest resources, the development of industrial clusters, wider adoption of certification practices and facilitation of trade are envisaged.

The Plan also aims to:

• Expand the use of wood in homes and workplaces
• Support private-sector afforestation using fast-growing species
• Promote local employment for forest villagers
• Ensure price stability through regulations addressing input costs
• Increase the use of forest products in sectors generating higher employment and added value

Measure 502.1 of the Plan clearly establishes the relationship between production and tending in forestry. Accordingly, priority will be given to all tending interventions, particularly in young stands, to support effective wildfire management, improve biodiversity and increase carbon storage.

This provision is particularly important. Forest tending is not merely a public activity that generates costs. The industrial utilization of raw materials obtained through tending operations supports the economic sustainability of silvicultural interventions.

The Twelfth Development Plan Forest Products Special Expertise Commission Report also recommends defining the industry as a strategic sector, reducing raw material costs, ensuring price stability, determining carbon footprints, developing national carbon sink legislation and utilizing the climate value of Türkiye’s forests in international carbon markets.

The Fourth Plan’s objective of “supplying raw materials to domestic industry” and the Twelfth Plan’s objective of “export-oriented, certified, circular and high value-added production” represent different stages of the same development trajectory.

For these objectives to be achieved, the wood-based panel industry must be regarded not merely as a production field subject to regulation, but as a strategic partner in transformation.

• Predictable raw material policy: Medium and long-term supply projections should be shared with the industry within the framework of forest management plans and production programs.
• Price stability: Raw material sales systems should be developed in a way that prevents market fluctuations from jeopardizing industrial investments and export commitments.
• Industrial afforestation: To reduce production pressure on natural forests and provide the industry with a regular supply of raw materials, industrial plantations based on fast-growing species should be supported in suitable areas while respecting ecological and social conditions.
• Recovered wood: A national system should be established for collecting, classifying and returning technically suitable and health-compliant recovered wood to panel production.
• Green transition financing: Investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, emission reduction, low-emission binders, environmental product declarations and traceability should be supported through appropriate financing instruments.
• Specialized organized industrial zones and clustering: Specialized forest products zones should be established close to raw material sources in forest-rich regions with shared energy, logistics, recycling and R&D infrastructure.
• Wood construction policy: Standards, building regulations and green public procurement criteria should be developed to encourage the use of wood and wood-based products in buildings, particularly public buildings.

These forms of support should not be regarded merely as advantages granted to particular enterprises. They are industrial policy instruments that enable domestic and renewable resources to be processed within the country and transformed into added value.

The Role of Forests and Wood Products in the Carbon Economy Is Growing

As of 2025, Türkiye’s forests are estimated to store approximately 2.086 billion tons of carbon. This figure is approximately 95.5 million tons higher than in 2020.

However, total carbon stock, annual net removals and tradable carbon credits are not the same concepts. For a forest carbon project to generate credits, conditions such as additionality, establishment of a baseline scenario, permanence, leakage, measurement, reporting and verification and prevention of double counting must be met.

A provision added to the Forest Law through Law No. 7584, adopted in 2026, gives the General Directorate of Forestry the authority to establish carbon sink areas, manage these areas and develop practices that take carbon market value into consideration.

This regulation is an important starting point. However, genuine success will depend on the reliability of the secondary legislation to be introduced. The definition of carbon rights, revenue sharing, participation of forest villagers, carbon losses caused by wildfires, independent verification and alignment with the nationally determined contribution should all be clearly regulated.

The forest investment of more than 100 million dollars undertaken by EFM in Oregon demonstrates how the value of forests is changing globally. In a model covering approximately 11,735 hectares, wood production, extended harvest rotations, carbon revenues, restoration, biodiversity and recreation are addressed together.

Türkiye and Oregon have different ownership and management systems. Nevertheless, the example is important because it demonstrates that carbon revenues can finance forest tending, restoration and long-term management.

Once wood is sustainably produced and transformed into MDF, particleboard, OSB, furniture or construction materials, the carbon contained within it remains stored throughout the product’s service life. Reuse and recycling can extend this period even further.

Climate policy should not end with carbon stored in forests. It should also recognize carbon stored in harvested wood products and the substitution benefits created when wood replaces carbon-intensive materials.

EUDR and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism Are on the Sector’s Agenda

The European Union Deforestation Regulation will begin to apply to large and medium-sized enterprises on December 30, 2026. For other micro and small enterprises, the applicable date is June 30, 2027.

Türkiye is classified by the European Union as a low-risk country. This represents an important trade advantage, but it does not provide exemption from obligations.

It will be necessary to demonstrate that MDF, particleboard and OSB products do not originate from areas associated with deforestation or forest degradation, that they comply with the legislation of the country of production and that the geographic origin of the raw material can be identified.

The most important requirement for the sector is a digital traceability chain extending from the forest production compartment to the factory and ultimately to the exported product. Türkiye’s low-risk status should be preserved and the General Directorate of Forestry’s forest management, production, permit and geographic information systems should be linked to a verifiable infrastructure that exporters can use.

With proper preparation, EUDR will not merely represent a cost. It can strengthen the credibility of Türkiye’s planned forestry system, registered production and expanding forest resources in the European market.

The definitive phase of the European Union Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism began on January 1, 2026. Its current scope includes cement, iron and steel, aluminum, fertilizers, electricity and hydrogen. Wood-based panels and furniture are not directly covered.

However, indirect effects will arise through energy, steel, aluminum, machinery, chemical inputs and logistics costs. European customers have begun requesting product carbon footprints, renewable energy use, environmental product declarations and life cycle assessments.

This transformation also presents an opportunity for our sector. If whole-life carbon in buildings becomes a key criterion, wood as a renewable resource may gain a stronger position compared with steel, concrete and fossil-based materials.

COP31 Is an Important Opportunity for Türkiye’s Forest and Wood Vision

COP31, to be held in Antalya from November 9 to 20, 2026, represents a historic opportunity for Türkiye to present its forest and wood vision to the world.

As YOMSAD, our expectation is that forestry and the forest products industry will not be considered on the conference agenda solely under the headings of emissions or raw materials, but as solution partners for carbon storage, the circular economy, rural development, green employment and low-carbon construction.

During the COP31 process, it is necessary to:

• Explain the positive relationship between sustainable forest management and planned production
• Emphasize the importance of tending interventions for wildfire resilience, biodiversity and carbon storage
• Make carbon stored in harvested wood products visible within climate policies
• Encourage the use of wood in public buildings and low-carbon construction
• Establish a national traceability system compliant with EUDR
• Evaluate forests and wood products in carbon markets according to scientific criteria
• Provide financing for industrial energy efficiency and decarbonization investments
• Establish fair value sharing among forest villagers, cooperatives, industry and public authorities
• Ensure that the private sector is represented as an institutional stakeholder in preparations for COP31

Our expectation from COP31 is to move beyond the shallow approach that views forests merely as areas that must remain untouched and industry merely as a structure that consumes resources. Healthy forests, planned production, strong industry and climate policy are all parts of the same value chain.

Türkiye’s forest area has expanded, its growing stock has nearly doubled, its annual current increment has strengthened and industrial roundwood production has increased in line with this biological capacity.

What must now be done is to regard this resource not merely as raw material, but as a strategic asset carrying value through design, technology, furniture, building systems, exports and carbon.

The Fourth Development Plan defined the forestry infrastructure needed to supply raw materials to Türkiye’s industry. The Twelfth Development Plan aims to transform this structure into an export-oriented, certified, circular and low-carbon model.

Türkiye’s objective should not be to generate less value. It should be to secure the sustainability of its forests while obtaining greater economic, social and climate value from every cubic meter of wood.

When a strong forestry administration, expanding forest resources, responsible industry and sound public policies move together, Türkiye can become not only a major producer of wood-based products, but also one of the global players shaping a low-carbon future.