Public preferences for structural attributes of forests: Towards a pan-European perspective

This paper presents the findings of a Delphi survey, conducted in four European regions (Great Britain, Nordic Region, Central Europe and Iberia) to assess public preferences for 12 key structural attributes of forests. The objectives were to explore the extent to which generalisations can be made about preferences of forests as sites for recreational use, and how regional variations in preferences may be explained in terms of cultural differences in local populations and bio-physical characteristics of the forests in each region. Survey participants were asked to classify the relationship, and quantify the relative importance, of each attribute to the recreational value of forests in their respective regions. While there was agreement across regions on the type of relationship and level of importance for many of the attributes, there were some notable outliers, for example ‘residue from felling and thinning’ scored lowest in Central Europe and highly in the other three regions. Indicative explanations for regional variations are proposed, focusing on combinations of cultural and biophysical factors, and drawing on the literature on forest preferences, place attachment and cultural landscapes.