Spatial Configurations of Forest Product Supply Chains and Sustainable Rural Development Across Southern Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece

ABSTRACT Forest product supply chains underpin rural economies across Southern Europe, yet their spatial configurations and sustainability implications remain unevenly understood across countries. A comparative, case‐based analysis integrated documented evidence from Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece, drawing on 39 sources identified in Scopus and Web of Science and on harmonized Eurostat statistics for 2021–2023. Studies covering cork, woody biomass, timber, and non‐wood products were screened and mapped to NACE Rev. 2.1 activities and NUTS 2024 regions, and seven dimensions of supply‐chain organization were classified on an ordinal scale using explicit criteria and thresholds and triangulated with reported quantitative indicators and tested for sensitivity to the quantitative thresholds. Portugal showed the largest relative weight of wood and paper manufacturing and documented high‐value and circular cork processing and was the only country with a substantial forest‐products trade surplus; Italy combined territorially embedded cooperative chains with substantial national import dependence; Spain presented a mixed configuration; Greece remained import‐dependent and appeared fragmented, although its evidence base was the thinnest. In the only quantified comparison of decentralized and centralized supply, which concerns an agricultural olive‐pruning chain, decentralized supply was about 13% cheaper; evidence on emissions and rural employment was indirect and mixed, suggesting that mechanization raises labour productivity but may reduce local labour demand. Aligning supply‐chain configurations with regional assets, integrated policy, and cooperative governance appears to be a promising pathway to sustainable rural development, but this proposition requires testing against directly measured rural outcomes, and social dimensions remain under‐assessed.