How many people should be in the urban forest? A comparison of trail preferences of Vienna and Sapporo forest visitor segments

Differences in trail preferences for social conditions of visitors to forests in Vienna and Sapporo were investigated in 2006 using a standardised image-based stated choice approach. On-site visitors to two comparable peri-urban forests – the Lobau Forest in Vienna, Austria (n=373), and the Nopporo Forest in Sapporo, Japan (n=256) – evaluated the same sets of computer manipulated images depicting 128 trail scenarios with different levels of social stimulation. Latent class segmentations, in three sub-segments of similar sizes, differentiated by partly opposite preferences for social conditions, were derived for both samples. A positive contribution of social stimulation to preferences was found for about 17% of Nopporo and 9% of Lobau respondents, while for close to 50% of Lobau respondents and 38% of Nopporo respondents very low levels of social stimulation were preferred. The results indicate that urban forests should be managed for users with a desire for low social densities as well as a denser social setting providing some levels of social stimulation.     

Heterogeneous preferences for social trail use in the urban forest: A latent class model

This study explored visitors’ preferences for social conditions of trail use in urban forests. It is important to understand the heterogeneous nature of visitor preferences because the recreational use of urban forests is characterized by multipurpose uses with different visiting motivations. To understand preference heterogeneity, this study used a discrete choice experiment using a latent class model that incorporated motivational and sociodemographic factors as membership likelihood function. In 2006, 256 visitors to the Nopporo Forest Park, Hokkaido, in northern Japan, completed questionnaires with a series of discrete choice tasks using computer-manipulated images presenting various social conditions of trail use, such as visitor numbers and harvesting behavior on wild food plants. The study identified two visitor groups. One group consisted of more elders whose motivation was to enjoy the natural environment. Although they tended to tolerate crowded conditions, they particularly disliked plant pickers, who harvest wild vegetables alongside the trail. The other group was less tolerant of crowds, and enjoying the natural environment was not their primary purpose for visiting the park. These visitors especially disliked excessive numbers of visitors, but they did not dislike plant pickers. These results suggest that traditional park management assumptions about typical visitors poorly serve the heterogeneous nature of the visitor population.     

Socio-ecological patterns of citizens science programs: The case of forestry observations in 3 central Mexico states

Citizen science programs have been used to identify and address socio-environmental issues. Environmental participatory monitoring has been particularly effective in providing useful information for forest management and decision-making processes directed at formulating policy. However, recent studies have identified a recurrent participation pattern: citizen science appears to concentrate on affluent municipalities while excluding highly marginalized regions. For this research, a non-parametric analysis of the distribution of observations collected via iNaturalist, a citizens science app for participatory monitoring, is presented. Spearman correlations and a Kruskal-Wallis test were conducted for plant species observations in three states of central Mexico. Results suggest that participatory monitoring patterns are influenced by the marginalization degree of municipalities. Percentage of natural protected areas and forested surface per municipality were also analyzed as variables useful to explain the spatial concentration of participation. Evidence shows that, contrary to observed patterns of exclusion, marginalized municipalities with a designated natural protected area concentrate more participation. Participatory monitoring via citizen science programs is discussed as a valuable tool for developing countries challenged with restricted budgets for environmental management.     

Beyond participation! Social innovations facilitating movement from authoritative state to participatory forest governance in Ukraine

Tuning participatory processes is often insufficient to achieve transition from authoritative state to democratic and participatory forest governance due to institutional inertia and unwillingness to truly decentralize decision-making power. Social innovations as reconfigurations of relationships between state, market actors, civil society and science can help to meet concerns of local people about forest Ecosystem Services (ES). In Ukraine, the Swiss-Ukrainian Forest Development (FORZA) pilot project initiated a social innovation process complementing regional forest planning with local participatory community development plans in Transcarpathia. This paper examines what kind of changes need to accompany the succession of participatory practices in transition processes from authoritative state to democratic forest governance, and what are the lessons learned for social innovations based on the Ukrainian case study. This paper synthesizes knowledge on the FORZA case analyzed by inductive content analysis, and integrates these local level results with a national survey (N?=?244) on Ukrainian forest governance. Transition processes need to go “beyond participation” by (i) legal reforms to better acknowledge ES important for local people, (ii) a change from an exclusive focus on timber to acknowledging multiple ES, (iii) changed spatial and temporal rationales of state-based governance, and (iv) recognition of local people as credible experts. Social innovations can detect key barriers to the transition during the policy experiments, and need to pay significant attention on how the novel practices can be sustained after the pilot, replicated elsewhere and up-scaled. Without such considerations, social innovation projects may only remain as a marginal curiosity.

     

Forest School and its impacts on young children: Case studies in Britain

As Forest School has become more widespread throughout Britain an understanding is needed of its impact. This paper outlines a two-phase evaluation project undertaken in Wales and England from 2002 to 2005. The evaluation was undertaken through a partnership between Forest Research and the New Economics Foundation. A methodology was developed to explore the impacts of Forest School on children and this was then used to track changes in 24 children at three case study areas over an 8-month period. The research highlights that children can benefit in a range of ways. Six themes emerged from the data of the positive impacts on children in terms of confidence, social skills, language and communication, motivation and concentration, physical skills and knowledge and understanding. Two further themes highlight the wider impacts of Forest School on teachers, parents, and the extended family. Contact with the natural environment can be limited for children and young people in contemporary society due to concerns about safety outdoors and issues of risk and liability. Forest School provides an important opportunity for children to gain access to and become familiar with woodlands on a regular basis, while learning academic and practical skills. The constructivist theory of learning seems to be particularly suited to the Forest School approach as children make meaning from their direct experiences. The participatory action research approach taken in this study promoted reflective practice amongst the stakeholders involved and provided them with a sense of ownership of the study, as well as an opportunity to learn from each other.     

Toward estimating the value of stewardship volunteers: A cost-based valuation approach in King County,Washington, USA

Urban forestry professionals are increasingly challenged to find cost-effective strategies for resource conservation and management. Many organizations partner with citizen groups to host events that enlist volunteers to perform stewardship tasks like tree planting and trail maintenance. These volunteer programs incur costs to both the managing agency and partners, such as staffing, tools, and transportation. Volunteers contribute uncompensated time and expertise. Little is known about these contributions, yet citizen stewards and host groups represent an important human dimension of urban forest management. Using a survey administered to volunteers and host organizations at restoration events in King County Parks, WA, USA, we developed a cost-based approach to estimate the value of stewardship activities that occurred in the spring field season of 2011. Expenditures included volunteer and event host time and direct cost of traveling to and from events, on-site labor, equipment, and preparation costs. Results suggest that contributions made by volunteers and hosts are significant; the combined costs associated with the 17 sampled events was approximately $35,700. These efforts represent a small subset of the more than 1000 volunteer environmental stewardship activities that take place annually in King County.     

The discourses,opportunities, and constraints in Canberra’s Green Infrastructure planning

Nowadays, Australian state and local governments consider Green Infrastructure (GI) planning as a mitigation and adaptation approach to make cities more resilient. Moreover, decision-makers have acknowledged and addressed social values, biodiversity, and habitat connectivity in policy documents. Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), is a unique Australian city since it is totally designed as the National Capital of Australia and is built on a grassland plain, inspired by the Garden City concept. The green and open spaces have a symbolic value, representing Canberra as the national capital. However, Canberra is experiencing increasing urban development pressure, which threatens its green and open spaces. Thus, it is critical to explore the GI status in governance and decision-making in Canberra to guide its future planning. This research explores ten policy documents using a reflexive analysis to interpretatively critique policy documents and to diagnose the existing opportunities and constraints in Canberra’s GI planning. The documents were selected from 4 main defined scopes, Australian Government land-use responsibilities, ACT Government land-use planning and strategy, ACT Government greenspace planning, and Tree management regulations and mechanisms. This research identified dual governance (national/territory) and dual nature character (native/exotic) in the policy documents, which has intensified the complexity of GI planning. Another constraint was the lack of district level planning and a structured bottom-up approach. More flexibility in governance and collaboration between different governance levels and agencies is needed to make a more effective GI network, using the existing opportunities such as open space systems. Although GI principles have been addressed at Canberra’s strategic level, more comprehensive GI planning is needed to address all types of greenspaces.     

Integrating stakeholders’ demands and scientific knowledge on ecosystem services in landscape planning

The conflict between conservation and timber production is shifting in regions such as Biscay (Basque Country, northern Spain) where planted forests are no longer profitable without public subsidies and environmentalist claim that public subsidies should be reoriented to the regeneration of natural forest. This paper develops an approach that integrates scientific knowledge and stakeholders’ demands to provide decision-making guidelines for the development of new landscape planning strategies while considering ecosystem services. First, a participatory process was conducted to develop a community vision for the region’s sustainable future considering the opportunities and constrains provided by the landscape and its ecosystems. In the participatory process forest management was considered an important driver for the region`s landscape development and forest multi-functionality was envisioned as a feasible attractive alternative. The participatory process identified a knowledge gap on the synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and carbon storage and how these depend on different forest types. Second, to study the existing synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and carbon storage and disentangle the identified knowledge gap, a GIS-based research was conducted based on spatially explicit indicators. Our spatial analysis results showed that natural forests’ contribution to biodiversity and carbon storage is higher than that of the plantations with exotic species in the region. The results from the spatial analysis converged with those from the participatory process in the suitability of promoting, where possible and appropriate, natural forest ecosystems restoration. This iterative learning and decision making process is already showing its effectiveness for decision making, with concrete examples of how the results obtained with the applied approach are being included in planning and decision-making processes.     

国家森林公园建设发展情况及其空间格局

为探索国家森林公园建设发展情况并揭示其空间分布规律,本研究采用知识图谱及GIS空间技术对我国国家森林公园的研究进展和空间格局进行了可视化的探索分析.结果 显示:(1)国家森林公园、生态旅游、森林旅游、风景园林、生物多样性、自然保护区、评价、群落结构等是我国森林公园的历史研究热点领域.(2)我国国家森林公园总体呈现东密西疏的空间格局,东北区域及西南区域公园分布较为集中,青海及西藏地区相反.(3)1992-2017年期间国家森林公园的面积得到了更为显著的提升,黑龙江、西藏、新疆、内蒙古4省贡献的面积较多,天津、上海、宁夏、海南4省市对全国国家森林公园建设面积的贡献较小.西部地区国家森林公园的数量有待提升,宁夏、海南2省的国家森林公园总面积有较大理论拓展空间,未来可以加强国家森林公园动态监测评价、森林公园管理制度保障、森林公园建设成效评价、智慧森林公园等方面的研究,以此来推动全国森林公园的全面健康发展.     

Communication between science, policy and citizens in public participation in urban forestry—Experiences from the Neighbourwoods project

The demand for sound scientific information and public participation is particularly great in urban forestry. Urban society's manifold perceptions, preferences and demands for urban forest goods and services need to be considered, indicating the necessity for socially inclusive planning processes. Successful policies can only be formulated by establishing close links with, for example, urban planning and municipal policies. Inherently, this means that close ties between research and policy are required. This article discusses the outcomes of the NeighbourWoods research and development project in which a wide range of tools for public participation were tested in six urban woodland case-studies across Europe. A distinction was made between characteristics of the specific participatory tools and those of the communication process between the facilitators (scientists) of the participation process and the end-users of information (local policy-makers). Public willingness to participate depends on factors such as existing controversy, emotions attached to the forest, and perceived dangers, e.g., in terms of threats to the status quo. Policy makers’ willingness to involve themselves depends on political interests, on prior experience with public participation processes, and on their trust in the facilitators of the public participation process. Findings confirm that a set of tools comprising a step-wise process from informing the public in an attractive way, collecting information on public opinion, towards fully participatory approaches such as direct involvement in decision-making is most likely to ensure socially inclusive planning. Communication with policy-makers requires a high degree of openness, clearly explaining every phase of the process, being open about each other's expectations, in short, by developing relationships based on mutual trust.     

Ecological and aesthetic values in urban forest management

In the planning processes of urban forests there are frequent conflicting opinions about the extent to which forests should be managed. On the one hand, management is needed to deal with the intensive use of forests, as well as unfavourable growing conditions, security factors and aesthetic variables. On the other hand, there is an increasing demand for unmanaged areas which is based primarily on ecological arguments. This paper presents research that was conducted in connection with the participatory planning process of Helsinki City forests. The main aim of this research was to study whether aesthetic and ecological values can be combined in the management of urban forests. Furthermore, the stability of forest landscape preferences during the participatory planning process was studied, along with the representativeness of planning groups compared to larger user groups. The data was collected in planning group meetings and public hearings in Helsinki during 1998–2000. Respondents evaluated a set of photographs designed to cover the main conflict situations in urban forest management: Thinnings, understorey management, the leaving of dead snags and decaying ground-wood.

These results show that the majority of residents in Helsinki prefer managed forests. The preferences are, however, closely connected to the background characteristics of respondents. Younger residents with a higher education and active urban forest users prefer more ecologically-oriented management when compared to older residents with less education, or less active users. The individuals had a rather clear and relatively stable opinion of what constitutes suitable management in urban forests, but the views differed considerably as a whole. This means that a participatory planning process will typically lead to some type of compromise. Moreover, the planning groups in Helsinki reflected the opinions of the larger user groups rather well. This indicates that the currently used participatory planning approach sufficiently integrates public values into its planning process.     

Adapting silvicultural management systems to urban forests

An important objective of forest science today is to better serve the cultural and recreational needs of a growing urban population. Forests are complex open systems with multiple functions and to maintain credibility among the public, people in charge of the management of urban forests need to draw on the expertise of a variety of scientific disciplines, not only the humanities, but increasingly also the forest engineering and forest biological sciences. The multi-disciplinary character of forest research can be utilized to achieve a more effective interface between science and politics.The objective of the paper is to present a system for silvicultural management of forests within urban landscapes. The system includes three elements:1. Forest Options Planning, using suitable tools for generating and evaluating silvicultural management options;2. Management Demonstration and Referencing, based on a network of managed and unmanaged field plots;3. Silvicultural Event Analysis, involving preventative evaluation of silvicultural activities based on event-oriented resource assessment.It is concluded that, considering their social and cultural importance, the forests within the growing urban landscapes are hardly receiving the scientific attention they deserve.     

Expectations towards forestry: The influence of personal networks with forest owners

Forest and wood enjoy a high prestige in urban societies, however, forestry in general is held at a lower level of esteem. This hypothesis has been supported by several national and regional surveys throughout Europe and is often presented as an obligatory concomitant phenomenon of urbanisation processes.

Nevertheless, psychological studies indicate the importance of the social context for the evolution of peoples' preferences. Hence, personal communication with members of the forestry community may also influence the expectations of individuals towards forest management. Approximately 1.5 million people in Germany own forests, therefore, the chance of knowing one or more forest owners is relatively high, even in urban areas. The role of forest owners as propagators of forestry core beliefs may be important.

Within this context, the role of forest owners in interpersonal networks has been analysed in its importance in the evolution of preferences and expectations. The data was taken from a nation-wide survey based on telephone interviews with 2800 people. Important questions that can be answered with this study are 1) How many people know a forest owner? 2) What kind of relationship do they have with the forest owner? 3) Do they talk about forest management and, if so, how often? 4) What do people learn about forest owners' practices? 5) Do people address expectations to forest owners? 6) Do the networks influence the expectations people have towards forest management?

The results of this study are compared to results gained by network analyses in other fields and studies of small scale forest owner research.     

Meaningful activities in the forest, a way back from exhaustion and long-term sick leave

A rehabilitation project in a forest environment was carried out in a collaboration between Skogsstyrelsen (The Swedish Forest Agency), Arbetslivsresurs (a state-owned company running work rehabilitation, making individual strategy plans) and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, Alnarp. Out of a group of 34 participants, 24 volunteered to be part of the research survey. Most of the participants had been on the sick list for a long time and suffered from depression and anxiety disorders. The interventions proceeded for 10 weeks and were held within a short distance from a smaller town in central Sweden. Three groups were set up to participate in the study: two groups during autumn 2006, followed by a short evaluation, and a third group during spring 2007. We have used a triangulation approach to evaluate the study, including both qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative results suggest that it was a successful project, in that most of the participants enjoyed the program and experienced a general improvement in both their physical and mental state. However, toward the end of the program they had considerable worries about the future. The quantitative results show that: Participants improved concerning symptoms of illness and general functioning, but their quality of life declined. We suggest that the decline in quality of life at the end of the intervention depended upon the participants’ life situation after rehabilitation. This could be due to returning to uncertain life situations such as work, family, financial support, etc.     

Ownership and ecosystem as sources of spatial heterogeneity in a forested landscape,Wisconsin, USA

The interaction between physical environment and land ownership in creating spatial heterogeneity was studied in largely forested landscapes of northern Wisconsin, USA. A stratified random approach was used in which 2500-ha plots representing two ownerships (National Forest and private non-industrial) were located within two regional ecosystems (extremely well-drained outwash sands and moderately well-drained moraines). Sixteen plots were established, four within each combination of ownership and ecosystem, and the land cover on the plots was classified from aerial photographs using a modified form of the Anderson (U.S. Geological Survey) land use and land cover classification system.Upland deciduous forests dominated by northern hardwoods were common on the moraines for both ownerships. On the outwash, the National Forest was dominated by pine plantations, upland deciduous forests, and upland regenerating forests (as defined by <50% canopy coverage). In contrast, a more even distribution among the classes of upland forest existed on private land/outwash. A strong interaction between ecosystem and ownership was evident for most comparisons of landscape structure. On the moraine, the National Forest ownership had a finer grain pattern with more complex patch shapes compared to private land. On the outwash, in contrast, the National Forest had a coarser grain pattern with less complex patch shapes compared to private land. When patch size and shape were compared between ecosystems within an ownership, statistically significant differences in landscape structure existed on public land but not on private land. On public land, different management practices on the moraine and outwash, primarily related to timber harvesting and road building, created very different landscape patterns. Landscape structure on different ecosystems on private land tended to be similar because ownership was fragmented in both ecosystems and because ownership boundaries often corresponded to patch boundaries on private land. A complex relationship exits between ownership, and related differences in land use, and the physical environment that ultimately constrains land use. Studies that do not consider these interactions may misinterpret the importance of either variable in explaining variation in landscape patterns.     

Forest fragmentation and regrowth in an institutional mosaic of community, government and private ownership in Nepal

This study analyzes forest change in an area of Nepal that signifies a delicate balance between sustaining the needs and livelihood of a sizable human population dependent on forest products, and an effort to protect important wildlife and other natural resources. The study area, a portion of the Chitwan valley district of Nepal, represents what may be becoming a common institutional mosaic in many countries of the world who have a population reliant on forest products for their livelihood: (1) a national park; (2) a designated park buffer involving participatory forest management programs; (3) scattered patches of designated community forest; and (4) large areas of adjacent landscape made up of mostly private landholdings under agricultural practices. Utilizing Landsat images from 1989 and 2000, we analyze land cover change in each of these management zones using landscape ecology metrics and quantifying proportional distributions of land cover categories. Our results show significant differences in terms of land cover dynamics and landscape spatial pattern between these land ownership classes. These findings indicate that community-based institutions (participatory management programs in the park buffer and the designated community forests) are capable of halting or even reversing trends in deforestation and forest fragmentation.     

How can forest fragments support protected areas connectivity in an urban landscape in Brazil?

Cities continue to grow worldwide, and the highly modified urban landscape becomes an inhospitable environment for many species because the natural vegetation cover is commonly fragmented, and the remnants are often isolated. Protected Areas (PAs) located surrounding or within urban areas may not achieve their goal of protecting local or regional biodiversity. Thus, an urban ecological network is essential to support their PAs. Thus, this study aimed at assessing the PAs connectivity in an urban landscape in Brazil and understanding whether urban forest fragments can support an urban ecological network. Besides spatial models based on functional connectivity and graph theory, we used participatory techniques to design the resistance surface and the least-cost paths (LCPs) for Atlantic Forest birds. The results showed critical paths (LCPs), important areas for restoration programs for improving PAs connectivity, and essential forest fragments for conservation and restoration. Although the landscape has a forest structure with 1873 forest fragments and 516 links through which the LCPs were structured, most forest fragments and LCPs cannot provide the necessary support for the PAs connectivity. The current ecological network is dependent on forest fragments neighboring (outside PAs) and the flux dispersions occurred mainly in the peri-urban areas. Riparian zones and anthropic grasslands also showed importance for the PAs connectivity. We identified only 28 forest fragments spatially connected, presenting several sizes, and located near large forest areas, relevant PAs, and riparian zones. Six of these forest fragments, smaller than ten hectares and strategically located in the urban matrix, were indicated for restoration actions. The current low connectivity among PAs brings the importance of native vegetation restoration in the riparian zone and anthropic grassland and the importance of the periurban areas to promote biodiversity connectivity in the urban landscape.     

森林群落发育阶段及其效益分析——以河北省木兰林场和塞罕坝机械林场为例

为揭示森林生态、经济和社会效益的发生、发展规律,为森林经营和资源管理提供依据,根据森林群落发育和演替理论并结合木兰林场塞罕坝机械林场经营实践,对森林群落的发育阶段及森林三大效益进行了分析,提出了稳定成熟森林群落的形成可分为森林群落形成阶段、森林群落发展阶段和森林群落稳定成熟阶段。阐述了森林群落不同阶段的基本特点和群落结构的基本特征。在此基础上分析了从森林群落形成阶段到发展为稳定成熟森林群落进程中,森林三大效益产生和发展的一般规律以及它们之间的相互关系,即森林三大效益不是平行关系而是相互区别、相互联系、相互伴生的关系,它们的产生是一个从无到有、由少到多、由小到大的发展进程,特别是生态效益和社会效益,从维度上讲还是一个从单一向复杂,从单维度向多维度的发展进程,并随森林群落林龄增长而逐渐增多增强。     

国内外森林康养发展历程及我国森林康养发展建议

森林是地球之肺,良好的森林覆盖能有效地调节气候、维持生态平衡。随着社会发展、生活水平的提高,人们对健康生活和精神生活的需求不断提高,而符合社会发展、绿色健康理念的森林康养产业越来越被现代人接受。森林康养是以森林可持续发展为基础,以提升人们的健康为主题,以养生休闲、医疗、康体服务为依托的产业深度融合的现代服务业模式。本文通过对森林康养的发展历史的研究,从森林康养的兴起、发展进程、创新等方面进行多方面、多角度分析,旨在为我国森林康养产业的发展提供理论指导和借鉴。     

Social effects on crowding preferences of urban forest visitors

An image-based stated choice approach was used to investigate the conditions determining why visitors to an urban forest in Vienna feel crowded or not. Respondents (N=213) evaluated several sets of images depicting trail use scenarios with different levels of social crowding conditions and several types of social interferences. Forest users were segmented into three groups based on their global evaluations of use levels during weekends and work days, resulting in a crowding-averse, a crowding-tolerant, and a crowding-indifferent segment. Crowding-averse respondents reacted much more negatively to scenarios with high-use levels, heterogeneous trail use conditions, and violations of personal minimum spatial requirements caused by the presence of others. This user group felt overcrowded because social conditions experienced in the area interfered with their main visiting goals, especially to walk with their dog unleashed and to recreate. By contrast, crowding-tolerant respondents disliked very low-use and high-use situations, and preferred a certain amount of social stimulation in the form of some encounters, and more heterogeneous trail use conditions.