Forests in the Czech Public Discourse

Abstract

Forests are being increasingly studied within the framework of social sciences, especially in relation to environmental problems and global climate change. This article deals with the perception of Czech forests and their management at two basic levels: at the level of sociological analysis of in-depth interviews with experts in the field of forestry and at the level of public opinion research. The main aim of this study was to describe the attitudes of professionals and the general public towards forests and forestry, especially with regard to climate change. Qualitative analysis of interviews with professionals discerned two main categories of opinion: ecological realism and social constructionism. The results of the study show that the Czech public, in agreement with ecological realists, considers it highly important to preserve and support the non-productive environmental functions of forests. The public also prefers close-to-nature forest management practices. Czech Republic is witnessing a fundamental shift in the mindset about forests. Although the public still expects forests to retain their production function, it perceives their environmental functions as increasingly important.

The living dead: acknowledging life after tree death to stop forest degradation

“…These local findings match the results of an expert-based study across Europe, where respondents rated large, old trees as the most important forest feature but deadwood was ranked only tenth out of 12 possible positions on a scale (Edwards et al 2012). Tourists generally expressed a preference for forests without deadwood (Stachová 2018) even when they were aware of the importance of deadwood for forest biodiversity (Pelyukh et al 2019). These examples illustrate a need to increase public understanding of deadwood's importance in forests.…”

“…2012). Tourists generally expressed a preference for forests without deadwood (Stachová 2018) even when they were aware of the importance of deadwood for forest biodiversity (Pelyukh et al . 2019).…”

Enhancing Ecologically Sustainable Management of Deadwood in Kenya’s Natural Forests

“…Daniel et al [105] showed that the density of deadwood affects aesthetic beauty from an ecotourism perspective for most forest goers. Other studies have shown that forests with large amounts of deadwood are unattractive to the public and are viewed as chaotic, untidy, and ruined [106][107][108][109][110]. Similarly, in Kenya, even though not as explicit as in the studies mentioned earlier, the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan for 2019-2030 identifies negative attitude and complex cultural factors among the key issues hindering biodiversity conservation and which could be extrapolated to deadwood management as well.…”

“…Studies have shown that the aesthetic beauty of a landscape is affected by the density and diversity of trees, including deadwood [105], which attracts people to visit forests. Unfortunately, forests with large amounts of deadwood are viewed as chaotic, untidy, and destroyed [88,[106][107][108][109][110]. However, Pastorella et al [111] showed that the preferred type of forests related to different management forms of deadwood (unmanaged forests, closeto-nature forests, extensively managed forests, and intensively managed forests).…”

Management Intensity and Forest Successional Stages as Significant Determinants of Small Mammal Communities in a Lowland Floodplain Forest

“…Nowadays, 34% of the Czech Republic area is covered by woodland of which most of the area is occupied by commercial forests [1]. Commercial forests are managed by different types of harvesting practices.…”