Aspect of Forest Recreation in Western Europe

This paper compares and contrasts the ways in which forest recreation is handled in Western Europe and some tentative suggestions are made of what we could learn from one another. The demand for forest recreation has been rising rapidly everywhere and the rise is likely to continue, but perhaps at a slower rate than before. One of the major contrasts between countries concerns the laws of public access to forests. Britain is one of the few countries where access is neither enshrined in law nor tolerated everywhere by custom, although it is granted voluntarily to virtually all publicly owned forests and also to some privately owned ones. Where access is granted, the emphasis throughout Western Europe is to encourage the peaceful enjoyment of nature rather than noisy leisure pursuits which can be equally well catered for elsewhere. The main problems are associated with litter and the damage caused by excessive deer populations which are favoured by hunting and environmental interests. With regard to litter, the best solution is to keep recreational facilities absolutely clean and tidy at all times because fewer people set a bad example than follow one. No satisfactory solution to the game problem has yet been found. In most of Western Europe less effort has been made than in Britain to quantify the costs and benefits of recreation for which no charges are made; this reflects a fundamental difference of attitudes to the valuation in money terms of some of the good things in life. Finally, the paper advocates the opening of more forests in Britain to the general public.