Evaluation of The Damages On Wood Raw Material and Residual Stands of Sustainable Timber Harvesting In Turkey

Nowadays, wood raw material is the most demanded although many materials such as steel and plastic can be used as raw materials in the timber industry. This situation has increased the pressure on forests and highlighted the importance of sustainable timber harvesting. The main reasons for the inability to produce wood from forests in the quantity or quality required by the industry can be listed as the amount or quality losses of wood raw material during harvesting and the damage to the remaining stand (trees, seedlings, etc.). Approximately 15% of the industrial demand for wood materials in Turkey is imported from other countries, as the annual production from Turkish forests does not meet the required quantity, quality, and specifications. In addition, although 10% of the wood raw material in forests is classified as Class I, 5.0% as Class II, and 85.0% as Class III, in practice, only 0.5% is Class I, 3.5% is Class II, and 95.0% is Class III logs can be produced. This situation is due to the damage caused to the wood raw material during harvesting (such as breakage, cracking, and splitting) or the damage caused to the trees produced during previous harvesting activities (such as breakage, and injury). Minimizing the damage to the remaining stand and providing wood raw material with the required characteristics for the industry in the present and future can only be achieved by correctly implementing sustainable harvesting activities. In this context, the effects of sustainable timber harvesting activities on the forest ecosystem are being evaluated in this study.