It is now increasingly recognized that forests have multiple functions and can provide opportunities for leisure, recreation and tourism, ecological and other environmental benefits as well as timber. In general such "public goods" are assumed not to be marketable. However, this book challenges this assumption and shows how these issues can be tackled from an economics and marketing perspective The work is based on an EU-funded project, conducted from four university or research centres: Hamburg (Germany), Padua (Italy); Vienna (Austria) and Wageningen (The Netherlands). Many case studies and original surveys are presented from these countries which provide practical solutions to market these forest goods and services. These empirical data are then related to economic models concerning public goods. This book is relevant to those studying or involved in forest management, natural resource and environmental economics and also marketing aspects of the tourism, recreation and leisure industries.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic value of Mediterranean forests, including not only the more obvious benefits (e.g. timber), but also the less commonly-measured public goods (e.g. tourism and conservation) that these forests provide. It brings together forest valuations at the national level from eighteen Mediterranean countries, based on extensive local data collection, and thus allows comprehensive analyses within countries as well as comparative analyses across countries. Forest benefits were classified within the Total Economic Value (TEV) framework. The book describes the valuation techniques used and examines ways to overcome the problems encountered. The book explores the research findings in the context of the institutions and policies that affect Mediterranean forests and proposes new policy approaches for improving forest policies and management at the national, regional and local levels. It is also shown how the methodologies used can be applied to other regions.