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

- We investigated the perceptions of recreational forest visitors concerning forestry operations.
- In an experimental study public information boards on forestry activities were installed in the Vienna Woods next to a recently removed beech stand.
- Forest visitors passing the harvesting site (N = 51) were asked for their attitudes using the laddering technique.
- Our results show that the appearance of the harvesting site is an important issue in the respondents' perceptions and that the information boards induce an attitude shift towards certain topics.
- By using targeted information, we show how to reduce the strength of appearance- and ecology-related factors and how to redirect attention towards the more commercial aspects of the wood economy, i.e. those aspects considered useful for visitor management in urban forests.