Economic Impacts of Forest Storms—Taking Stock of After-Vaia Situation of Local Roundwood Markets in Northeastern Italy

Alberto Udali,Paola Gatto,Stefano Grigolato,Nicola Andrighetto

doi:10.3390/f12040414

Abstract

Large timber availability after storms can lead to a drop in timber prices that can impact local markets. The Vaia storm, which occurred in Northeastern Italy at the end of October 2018, felled large volumes of timber, particularly spruce. To estimate the loss in volume and value connected to Vaia, data of roundwood sales from four local markets (Province of Trento, Province of Bolzano, Veneto Region and Friuli Venezia Giulia Region) were collected before and after Vaia, as well as reports on the status of salvage operations. The results confirm that Vaia had a strong impact on Northeastern Italy. A large area of the forest was hit and massive volumes of wood were affected. The analysis of prices showed a negative trend in the post-Vaia period due to an increase in volume per sale, especially for stumpage sales. It also highlighted the difficulties of storing the salvaged wood and the consequent fast saturation of the market. Although it was not possible to assess long-term effects on the four local markets, the presence and use of local e-commerce platforms proved useful in making roundwood sales more organized and efficient.

Highlights

IntroductionDriven by climate change [1,2], storms and other forest disturbances have increased in frequency in Europe in the last few decades [3], especially in Northern and Central-Eastern
Published: 30 March 2021Driven by climate change [1,2], storms and other forest disturbances have increased in frequency in Europe in the last few decades [3], especially in Northern and Central-EasternEurope, where two storms per year have occurred on average from 1950 [2,4,5]
The aim of this paper is to fill this research gap by taking stock of how the Vaia storm changed the availability of roundwood and affected its price in four local markets in Northeastern Italy

Summary

Introduction

Driven by climate change [1,2], storms and other forest disturbances have increased in frequency in Europe in the last few decades [3], especially in Northern and Central-Eastern. Europe, where two storms per year have occurred on average from 1950 [2,4,5]. Given the vast areas involved in numerous countries and the hundreds of millions of m3 of windthrown wood (Table 1), storms can have wide ecological and economic impacts on forest ecosystems and forest markets, as well as industry, community infrastructure and services [4]. Accepted: 25 March 2021 with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- Storm Year.

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