Economic evaluation of recreational use of forests roads on the example of Pisek City Forests Ltd.

Abstract

Abstract An additional objective of the research, which was a part of the project “Quantification of the Effect of the Selected Forest Enterprise on the Local Economy of the Region” of the Internal Grant Agency (IGA) of Mendel University in Brno conducted in 2016 was a large case study of the property of Pisek City Forests Ltd. This article is focused on surveying the willingness of area visitors to pay for usage of the recreational function of forests and evaluation of the used method. The evaluated part of the questionnaire survey was based on the method of contingent valuation founded on the willingness of respondents to pay for recreational function. It was found in the results of the questionnaire survey that visitors are not very willing to pay for recreational function, and it is especially because forests in the area of Pisek City Forests Ltd. are perceived as public assets and thus access to them should be without fee. Furthermore, there were problems found with the method. Thus it is necessary to find a new way of evaluation of the recreational potential of the area.