Forest management or greed of gain?—An information experiment on peri-urban forest visitors’ attitudes regarding harvesting operations

Abstract

Forestry operations in urban forests are often perceived negatively by forest visitors seeking recreation. This study investigates the range of attitudes present among such forest visitors and how their perceptions towards forestry operations can be influenced by targeted information measures. First, in order to identify the specific attributes and values associated with forestry operations, a hierarchical value map (HVM) was derived from a pre-study with 12 participants. Second, 51 forest visitors were surveyed in the Vienna Woods, Austria. For the latter, the laddering method was used to identify the focal points and shifts in HVM attributes and values. The results show that the public information boards used in the experiments reduce the visual impact of the harvesting as well as ecology-related factors and redirect attention towards timber-related or commercial items. We conclude that information provided at a site of emotional concern is easily picked up and leads to attitude changes. These attitude changes are directly linked to the information provided (e.g. concerning the environment, the eco-social market economy, or support of the regional economy).