How do forest visitors perceive forest management forms? Public acceptance of coppice-with-standards in urban forests

Abstract

To mitigate climate change consequences, a shift to more renewable energy sources is necessary. The traditional forest management form coppice-with-standards features efficient harvesting cycles and could therefore provide a reliant biomass source. Particularly forests close to urban settlements are popular destinations for outdoor recreation. Therefore, for a well-functioning interaction between recreation and forest management, forest visitors' preferences need to be considered. Even though, coppice-with-standards have been studied scientifically from various points of view, including its cultural and ecological values, little focus was put on the perceived visual attractiveness of this management form. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how forest visitors perceive different forest management forms with a focus on coppice-with-standards in the case study area in Zurich, Switzerland by performing qualitative Go-Along interviews and a quantitative forest visitor survey. The statistical analysis revealed that forest visitors have divided opinions on this management form and prefer even-aged high forest as well as continuous forest management. Therefore, in case of an increasing use of coppice-with-standards management for biomass production, implementation in recreational forests needs to be weighed against less frequently visited areas. However, addressing the visitors with well-targeted communication strategies could result in increased understanding and acceptance and could therefore support the implementation process also in recreational forests.

Keywords

• Forest management forms
• Forest characteristics
• Perceived visual forest attractiveness
• Visitor preferences
• Coppice-with-standards
• Forest recreation