Urban wild food foraging locations: Understanding selection criteria to inform green space planning and management

Abstract

Urban wild food foraging is increasingly attracting attention as an activity in urban green spaces that encourages urban residents’ interaction with their natural environment. However, little is known about the criteria influencing urban foragers’ selection of foraging locations that could inform urban green space management and planning to encourage urban foraging. To elicit these criteria, we conducted 21 semi-structured expert interviews with urban foraging stakeholders in Vienna, Austria, and analysed the data using qualitative content analysis. The respondents suggested 11 criteria that influence the selection of foraging locations. These are related to spatial factors, management of public urban green spaces and the green space activities of other visitors. However, the respondents reported that urban foragers do not uniformly follow these different criteria, but subjectively assess and apply them depending on the specific locations and the plant materials and mushroom species being targeted. For some foragers, even intensively managed public urban green spaces can offer certain advantages. Thus, urban residents forage in public urban green spaces that have diverse properties and management strategies. We suggest that urban foraging is best supported by biodiversity- and wilderness-friendly green space management that supports access to foraging locations, clear foraging regulations and codes of conduct, and comprehensive information about contamination for urban residents. Implementation of these suggestions would not only benefit urban foraging, but also enhance urban biodiversity and guarantee the multifunctional benefits of public urban green spaces for urban residents and urban nature.