Management of Recreation and Nature Based Tourism in European Forests

Ulrike Pröbstl, Veronika Wirth, Birgit Elands, and Simon Bell 1. 1 Background to the Study Ulrike Pröbstl and Simon Bell New directions and the need for reform - these two catch phrases dominate the political discussions around forests, forestry, and forest research in many European countries. In Germany there is concern about the reduction of university positions in forestry, as there is across Europe about the new, more economically ori- tated direction of forest management. For example, in 2004 the Bavarian electorate defeated a referendum about the restructuring of the forest administration, largely because of concern about changes to nature conservation and recreation mana- ment. Obviously, the new trends in forest management imposed by commercial interests stand in stark contrast to the overall expectations society has of effective multi-functional forest management (Deutscher Rat für Landesp ege 2004). The administrative desires for reform on the one side and - often contradictory - societal demands on the other are the reason to undertake an investigation of the European model of multi-functional forest management.

Ulrike Probstl is Professor for Landscape Development, Recreation and Tourism at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria. She received her PhD in forest policy, and has been the director of a planning and research consultancy in Germany. Her current research interests focus on recreation and conservation planning, adaptation to climate change, and nature based tourism.
Veronika Wirth is research assistant and a PhD candidate at the Institute of Landscape Development, Recreation and Conservation Planning, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria. Her current research interests include recreation and conservation planning, sustainable forestmanagement as well as nature based tourism and possible adaptation to climate change.
Birgit Elands is Assistant Professor in the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group of Wageningen University in the Netherlands. She received her doctor's degree on a study focussing on tourist behaviour as an outcome of a search for meaningful experiences. Her research interests include all aspects related to human-nature interaction, such as recreational behaviour, public experiences and meanings of nature, and recreational conflicts.
Simon Bell is Associate Director of OPENspace at Edinburgh College of Art and Professor of Landscape Architecture in the Institute of Agriculture and Environment at the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia. He recently gained his PhD at the Estonian University of Life Sciences. He is an international expert on forest and park landscapes, outdoor recreation and large-scale landscape evaluation and design.