Forest and People ¶

In most studies, forest attractiveness is determined by visual aspects. However, forest perception is not only influenced by visitors' visual impressions - all sensory dimensions play a role. In order to capture other sensory perceptions, we conducted seven go-along interviews, during which forest visitors were accompanied by an interviewer on their normal route through the forest and prompted to comment on what they saw, smelled, heard and felt. In addition, a pilot survey provided some initial insights on the influence of sounds on visitors' perceived visual attractiveness of forest plots. The pilot study was part of a larger quantitative forest visitor survey across the whole of Switzerland aiming to link forest visitor data to forest characteristics according to the Swiss National Forest Inventory NFI. At a subset of 29 forest plots, sounds were recorded in addition to the questionnaire survey and the data on forest characteristics. This enabled us to link forest visitor data provided in the questionnaires with forest characteristics and sound parameters, in an attempt to explain between-plot variability in the perceived visual attractiveness of forest plots.

Forest policy planning and broad-scale management is often based on forest inventory data in many countries. However, the importance of social aspects such as aesthetic and recreational values is increasing, especially in urban areas, and need to be considered in forestry practice. We conducted a forest visitor survey at selected National Forest Inventory (NFI) sample plots in order to test whether this would be a way of integrating the social dimension of forest with national forest inventories toward a more comprehensive forest monitoring instrument, focusing on forest recreation and aesthetics. Visitors were asked to rate the visual attractiveness of the NFI plot and the surrounding forest. Multi-level modeling combining both plot-related inventory data and visitor-related questionnaire data showed that perceived forest attractiveness is determined by both social and physical factors. We conclude that it is worth further developing this method with the aim of implementing forest visitor surveys at a subset of NFI plots during routine field assessments, and, thus, significantly improving monitoring of forest recreation.

Recreational activities have undergone a change from mainly passive forms (e.g. rest, relaxation, reinvigoration, solitude and escape) to more active forms (e.g. mountain biking, climbing and running). Correspondingly, the demand for forest recreation infrastructure to support the more active forms has increased. However, very little is known about what features characterise the planning and management of forest recreation infrastructure. This study takes four in-depth mountain-bike trail cases in Switzerland to characterise the planning and management of forest recreation infrastructure. The analysis is performed using the institutional analysis and development framework (Ostrom in Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1990) and qualitative data based on cases and interviews. We argue that by considering the identified external features (formal and informal rules, location) and process features (partnerships, public participation, conflicts, profitability perspectives, time frame of process, funding of process and approval), we can better plan and manage active forms of forest recreation. Conflict situations and response strategies associated with mountain-bike-trail planning and management are also identified. The findings are relevant for other regions facing the growing use of forests for recreational and leisure activities.

Among the different functions forests offer, recreation is increasing in importance to a growing global population. This is at a time when multifunctional forest management can no longer cover its costs solely from the revenue from wood production. The governance of forest recreation is assumed to be different from that of other forest functions but is poorly understood, which limits proper forest management. Meanwhile, conflicting interactions between forest users are increasing. In this paper, we study forest recreation governance with a particular focus on forests in urban areas in developed countries. The paper first identifies key governance challenges for forest recreation and then provides a better understanding of forest recreation governance, focusing on the role of stakeholders and institutions. This is done using the Institutional Analysis and Development framework. We use urban forest areas of Switzerland to illustrate and exemplify the developments in forest recreation and their consequences for forest governance. The study draws on different empirical sources and analysis techniques, including statistical data, focus groups and document analyses. The findings show that six main action situations need to be considered when analysing forest recreation governance. In each action situation, several stakeholders are involved. We argue that understanding the governance of forest recreation is one of the future challenges in forest management and planning, particularly in urban areas. Finally, our study shows that the applied framework is appropriate and useful in analysing the structure and arrangements of forest recreation governance.