THE VALUE OF FORESTS FOR TOURISM IN SWEDEN

Sweden has a vast quantity of forests and the Right of Common Access a llows tourists to freely enter any forest no matter who owns it. An ec onomic valuation study was carried out in two tourism areas, one in th e southern pare of the country and one in the northern part. It was sh own that a considerable portion of the value to tourists is attributab le to forest characteristics. Furthermore, the results suggest that th is value can be increased by modifying forest management practices; fo r example, by making clearcuts smaller, even if there were more of the m, and by increasing the proportion of broad leaved trees in forest st ands.