Forest management and public perceptions - visual versus verbal information

Forest and landscape management measures have impacts on the amenity value of forests. People may have certain attitudes towards management, in partic ular near urban areas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impacts on scenic beauty and recreational value of five different management practice s: small clear cutting, thinning, removal of undergrowth, natural state, an d traditionally managed cultural landscape. In order to compare visual perc eptions with preconceptions, two evaluation methods, visual presentation (p ictures produced by image-capture technology) and verbal questions were use d. Scenic beauty and recreational value were assessed from slides in which management measures were presented by the pairwise comparison technique. Th e results indicate that scenic beauty and recreational preferences differ c onsiderably from each other. In the study areas, small clear cuttings had t he most positive effect on scenic beauty and natural state had most positiv e effect on recreational value. Furthermore, preconceptions concerning diff erent silvicultural measures did not consistently correspond to perceptions based on the assessment of visual images. This fact supports the use of vi sual presentation methods in future preference studies as well as in partic ipatory forest planning projects. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.