The document summarizes the results of a SWOT analysis conducted to identify important factors for sustainable forest management in the forests of Kentriki Makedonia, Greece. The analysis identified the main strengths as production-related factors and financial benefits. Weaknesses included institutional and funding issues. Opportunities involved improving strengths like wood stock. Main threats were wildfires, illegal logging, and diseases. The SWOT analysis provided a framework for identifying alternative strategies around improving production, recreation, protection from threats, and sustainable management assessment.

1. Strategic planning for sustainable forest
management assessment: A SWOT Analysis for
the forests of the Region of Kentriki Makedonia
in Northern Greece
Vassiliki Kazana1, Dimitrios Fotakis1, Christos Stamatiou1, Angelos
Kazaklis2, Anastasia Boutsimea1, Paraskevi Koutsona1, Dimitrios
Raptis1
1Kavala
Institute of Technology, Department of Forestry & Natural Environment
Management at Drama, 1st km Drama-Mikrohori, 66100 Drama, Greece, e-mail:
vkazana@teikav.edu.gr
2
OLYMPOS- Centre for Integrated Environmental Management, 39 Androutsou Str.,
55132 Kalamaria, Thessaloniki, Greece
16th Hellenic Forestry Society Conference, Thessaloniki, October 6-9, 2013

2. Aims of the study
The main aims of this study were through a SWOT application to:
1. identify the most important internal and external factors for sustainable
management assessment and monitoring of the Kentriki Makedonia
Region’s forests and forest lands and
2. identify forest strategies resulting in a good fit between those internal
and external factors.
The work reported in this study is part of the overall effort to analyze
the strategic forest planning environment in Greece towards
sustainable forest management (SFM) assessment and monitoring of
the country’s forests and forest lands using as a first stage of analysis
the SWOT approach

3. Methodology
The SWOT approach was implemented through a survey carried out
during a Workshop of the Greek National Forest Governance Council.
The National Forest Governance Council (NFGC) was established
within the frame of the INFORM project financed through LIFE and the
Special Secretariat of Forests of the Ministry of Environment, Energy &
Climate Change (www.inform-life.gr)
The main role of the NFGC is to support the development process of a
knowledge base for national forest policy on sustainable forest
management assessment and monitoring of the country’s forests and
forest lands.
NFGC consists of a moderating team, Forest Service top-level staff from
all over the country, scientists of different expertise related to the
management of forests and forest land and representatives of opinion
influencing stakeholders in fields of concern to sustainable forest
management.

4. Methodology
The SWOT Approach
•SWOT analysis is typically carried out in group meetings
•During the discussion sessions the moderators solicit and record the participants’
comments under the 4 SWOT groups: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and
Threats.
•In the current study an open-ended questionnaire was designed by the authors,
who are the moderators of the NFGC. The questionnaire was handed out to the
Forest Service NFGC members during a workshop.
•The members could add any other factor not included in the list in any of the 4
SWOT groups. They were also asked to rank in ordinal way all the factors, internal
and external in each of the 4 SWOT groups.

5. Case study area
Case of the Region of Kentriki Makedonia Forests in Northern Greece
All the responses of the NFGC members, who are responsible for forests and
forest lands of the Kentriki Makedonia (KM) Region classified into the “Strengths”,
“Weaknesses”, “Opportunities” and “Threats” groups.

6. SWOT Analysis for SFM assessment and monitoring of the Kentriki Makedonia Region’s forests

7. Results- Strengths
A total of 12 internal factors constitute the “Strengths” of the KM Region
Forest Sector for sustainable forest management assessment and
monitoring. All the “Strengths” factors, which were recorded even once,
are presented in this table.
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S10
S11
S12
Technical wood production
Firewood production
Pulp wood production
Forage production
Mammalian game species
Avian game species
Water quality of watersheds
Sightseeing of natural and cultural attractions (mountains, natural
parks, aesthetic forests, caves, etc)
Income generation for the local population of the mountain area
Employment of local population in forest works
Infrastructure
Forest cadastre
“Strengths” of the Kentriki Makedonia Region’s forests and forest lands for SFM assessment
and monitoring

8. Results- Strengths
Based on the agreement response percentage of the NFGC
members the most important (rated among the top 5) “strength”
factors of the KM Region’s forests are:
• firewood production (100%)
• technical wood production (90%)
• employment of the local population in
forest works (90%)
• income generation for the local population (75%)
• sightseeing of natural and cultural attractions (75%)
• forage production (75%)

9. Results- Weaknesses
A total of 13 internal factors were recorded as “Weaknesses” of the KM
Region’s forests for sustainable forest management assessment and
monitoring. All the “Weaknesses” factors, which were recorded even
once, are presented in this table.
W1
Degraded wood stock
W2
Personnel shortage
W3
Lack of funds for investments
W4
Lack of funds for management plan studies
W5
Forest land tenure problems
W6
Bureaucracy
W7
Forest legislation
W8
Lack of tools for sustainable forest management assessment and integration
in forest management plans
W9
W11
Exploitation system of public forests
Lack of know-how (new technologies and tools for sustainable forest
management)
Outdated forest management plan standards
W12
Difficulties to enforce the law
W13
Resistance to change
W10
“Weaknesses” of the Kentriki Makedonia Region’s forests and forest lands for SFM
assessment and monitoring

10. Results- Weaknesses
Based on the agreement response percentage of the NFGC
members the most important weaknesses (rated among the top 5)
for SFM of the KM Region’s forests are:
•
lack of funds for investments (90%)
• forest land tenure problems (85%)
• lack of funds for forest management plan
studies (80%)
• personnel shortage (70%)
• forest legislation (70%)

11. Results- Opportunities
A total of 18 external factors were recorded as “Opportunities” of the KM
Region’s forests for sustainable forest management assessment and
monitoring. All the “Opportunities” factors, which were recorded even
once, are included in this table.
O1
O2
O3
O4
O5
O6
O7
O8
O9
O10
O11
O12
O13
O14
O15
O16
O17
O18
Updated forest management plan standards
Expansion of forest lands
Wood stock improvement
Production of non-wood products
Game improvement
Rangelands improvement
Forest recreation/ecotourism development
Forest income improvement (income from production of non-wood products e.g.
honey, mushrooms, fruits, herbs, etc.)
Support of mountainous population employment
Income support of mountainous population
Participation in projects
Environmental awareness on sfm issues
Capacity building
Biodiversity conservation/protection
Natural disasters prevention
Forest cadastre
Infrastructure
Training staff in new technologies for sustainable forest management
“Opportunities” of the Kentriki Makedonia Region’s forests and forest lands for SFM
assessment and monitoring

12. Results- Opportunities
Based on the agreement response percentage of the NFGC
members the most important opportunity factors (rated among the
top 5) for SFM of the KM Region’s forests are:
• woodstock improvement (85%)
• updated forest management plan standards (80%)
• production of non-wood products (70%)

13. Results- Threats
A total of 12 external factors were recorded as “Threats” of the KM
Region’s forests and forest lands for sustainable forest management
assessment and monitoring. All the “Threats” factors, which were
recorded even once, are included in this Table.
T1
Wildfires
T2
Flooding
T3
Diseases
T4
Insects
T5
Climate change
T6
Landslides
T7
Endangered water wild fauna
T8
Illegal logging
T9
Illegal hunting
T10
Forest land encroachment
T11
Mining activities
T12
Land use change
“Threats” of the Kentriki Makedonia Region’s forests and forest lands for SFM assessment
and monitoring

14. Results- Threats
Based on the agreement response percentage of the NFGC
members the most important threats (rated among the top 5) for
SFM of the KM Region’s forests are:
• wildfires (100%)
• illegal logging (100%)
• diseases (70%)
• forest land encroachment (70%)
• illegal hunting (70%)

15. Conclusions
All in all, for the Kentriki Makedonia Region’s forests and forest lands
• The most important processes identified in the “Strengths” category in
the frame of forest management sustainability involve the well
established production processes and financial issues.
• The external factors grouped under the “Weaknesses” category included
mainly institutional type of processes, most probably related to the
financial crisis the country is currently undergoing.
• The external factors grouped under the “Opportunities” category involved
processes related to improvement of main “Strength” factors, such as
wood stock improvement.
• Finally, the most important external factors grouped under the “Threats”
category are mainly processes associated with protection from abiotic or
biotic factors.

16. Conclusions
• Several processes (such as water quality of watersheds, mining
activities etc.) were rated as most important by a smaller number of
KM/ NFGC members, therefore, these processes should be taken into
consideration in terms of forest management sustainability assessment
at finer spatial aggregation scales.

17. Conclusions
The analysis of internal and external factors classified under the
“Strengths”, ‘Weaknesses”, “Opportunities” and “Threats” categories
provided a basic frame for strategic forest planning. On the basis of this
analysis for the forests of the KM Region, the following strategies were
identified as alternative forest strategies to be considered for further
evaluation towards achieving forest sustainability.
– Improvement of wood stock for firewood and technical wood
production
– Forest recreation/ Ecotourism
– Production of non-wood products
– Protection from abiotic factors
– Protection from biotic factors

18. Conclusions
Overall, the SWOT Analysis was proved a helpful frame to analyze the
strategic forest planning environment towards assessing and
monitoring forest management sustainability. It provided information on
the main processes to be included in the forest sustainability
assessments and helped identify alternative strategies between internal
and external factors.

19. Thank you for your attention