Price premiums for certified roundwood: evidence from auction sales in Turkey

Around 6.5 million ha state-owned forests are certified by Forest Stewardship Council in Turkey. Roundwood originated from certified forests has been in the market for nearly a decade. Little is known about the impact of forest certification on the roundwood price. Price models were constructed to explore the price premium for certified roundwood using sales data collected from state forest enterprises in Bolu. Full sample models for sawlog and pulpwood revealed that forest certification provided a limited premium. Sawlogs had a 0.54% premium while pulpwood had none. In tree-type models, scots pine sawlog received a price premium of 1.74%, while black pine pulpwood and scots pine pulpwood fetched price premium by 1.9% and 2.2% respectively. Results of the study provide useful information to forest policymakers.