Management of urban recreational woodlands: The case of Norway

A questionnaire was mailed to 351 forest supervisors in Norway about the condition and management of urban woodlands important for recreation. The overall respondense rate was 56% and included 29 large urban settlements (⩾10,000 inhabitants) and 168 small urban settlements (200–9999 inhabitants), encompassing about 37% of the Norwegian population. The areas included in the survey cover 194,100 ha, i.e. 1.6% of the forested area. Urban woodlands were defined as the annually most frequently visited forest areas larger than 50 ha. The average size of urban woodlands was about 1000 ha, equal in large and small urban settlements. About 73% of the urban woodlands were closer than 500 m from settlements. The mean proportion of forest in the urban fringe was 40%. Like most forested land in Norway, urban woodlands were mainly privately owned. In large urban settlements the proportion of municipal forest was slightly higher than in small urban settlements. The distributions of forest stand age and tree species composition in urban woodlands did not deviate from the overall forest situation in the region. Silviculture and forest plans were prominent in urban woodlands around both large and small urban settlements, but special plans for recreation and conservation were equally rare. Recreational facilities and conflicts were most common in urban woodlands around large urban settlements. The effect of the recommendations on management of urban woodlands developed during the 1970s is questioned regarding the small differences between urban woodlands and the general forest situation, as well as between woodlands of large and small urban settlements. However, recreational efforts may have been more intensive in smaller neighbourhood woodlands of less than 50 ha, which were beyond the scope of this survey.