Impact on the environment and management challenges in forest areas important for recreation in Latvia

 Latvian Council of Science agreement No. lzp-2023/1-0137

The aim of the Study is to explore quantitative and qualitative links between management and recreational use in forest areas with high recreational pressure and to provide practical recommendations for multi-purpose forest management in such areas. it will be done, by analysing the following aspects in three case study areas:

1. Recreation opportunity spectrum, spatial and temporal visitor flows;
2. Ecosystem response to the recreational pressure;
3. Visual preferences of forest visitors;
4. Priorities and challenges of management in forest areas intensely used for recreation;
5. Opportunities for using open-source and/or social media data for forest recreational use analysis and management planning.

Apart from being published in high-quality journals and contributing to the career development of students and young researchers, the study results will have highly practical relevance as they will provide datasets on recreation intensity and impact to the managers of the respective case study areas, to aid in the decision making. Area managers and other relevant stakeholders will be deeply involved in the study, thus facilitating dialogue and mutual understanding.