Crowding in European forests: a review of recent research and implications for forest management and policy

Abstract

This paper analyses and summarizes European research dealing with forest visitors’ crowding perceptions. Compared with recreation research in North America, where crowding is an important topic, only 16 European crowding studies have been identified since the 1980s. Their focus lies on everyday users in rural and urban forest settings of Central and Northern Europe. In these studies between 10 and 64 per cent of the respondents perceived crowding. Most studies used the same theoretical foundation oriented towards US recreation crowding literature but differed in their methods of measuring crowding. As a result, the use of different scales and data collection methods restrict a nation- and Europe-wide comparison. There is a need for standardized crowding research in order to gain insights into cultural differences and commonalities for integrating forest recreation management into a sustainable framework for forest management.