Who Are the Visitors of Forest Park Grmoščica and What Are Their Needs? Results of Quantitative Exploratory Survey

Kičić, Martina; Marin, Ana Marija; Vuletić, Dijana; Kaliger, Ivana; Matošević, Ninoslav; Šimpraga, Sergej; Ostoić, Silvija Krajter

doi:10.15177/seefor.20-19

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Although the perceived amount of litter, illegal littering, irresponsible visitor behaviour, visitor control and poor behaviour of other users were less frequently cited, these dissatisfactions can have a significant impact on the quality of time spent in green spaces (Ciesielski and Stereńczak 2018). Problems related to litter such as illegal littering or lack of bins, the need for additional equipment essential for spending time in green spaces, and dissatisfaction with the behaviour of other users of green spaces were frequently expressed as problems in a recent survey of visitors in one of Zagreb's forest parks (Krajter Ostoić et al 2017, Kičić et al 2020. Research has shown that even a moderate amount of litter can elicit a reaction from green space users (Verlič et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception and Attitudes of Residents Towards Green Spaces in Croatia – an Exploratory Study

Marin

Kičić

Vuletić

et al. 2021

SEEFOR

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Green spaces are important parts of urban infrastructure. COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown periods around the world have confirmed benefits that people derive from using green spaces for their physical and mental health. Green spaces need to meet the needs of users so that people can use them and benefit over time. It is important to consider users' perceptions and attitudes. User input proves beneficial in improving management practices. We investigated the differences in attitudes and perceptions of respondents from different large settlements in Croatia towards green spaces. Data on the use and perception of green spaces were collected in the first lockdown period in Europe and processed the part of the questionnaire on attitudes and perceptions towards green spaces. People have similar, mostly positive perceptions of green spaces regardless of the size of the settlement. Differences were found in the perception of disadvantages and needs related to the management of green spaces. This is the first study of the attitudes and perceptions on a large spatial scale in Croatia, so the results are exploratory and important. This study contributes to research on the social aspects of green spaces by investigating the influence of environmental context on perceptions and attitudes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception and Attitudes of Residents Towards Green Spaces in Croatia – an Exploratory Study

Marin

Kičić

Vuletić

et al. 2021

SEEFOR

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“…Particular attention is paid to the forest recreation sector. Some explored the aesthetic preferences of users for different types of forest management (Paletto et al 2018), while others looked at visitor uses and urban forest conditions (Krajter Ostoić et al 2017, Kičić et al 2020). Specifically, these latest studies have increased over the course of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (Marin et al 2021).…”

Section: Participatory Management Of Nature-based Tourist Destinationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Tourist Preferences on the Visitor Management System: the Case Study of Plitvice Lakes National Park

Sergiacomi

Vuletić

Paletto

et al. 2022

SEEFOR

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This study aims to develop an online survey on the tourist perception of the visitor management system of the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. As tourists are particularly sensitive to organisational issues related to the Park management, a bottom-up approach based on visitors’ opinions has been applied. First of all, a brief chronology has been reconstructed that retraces the most significant stages of the Park. Subsequently, an online questionnaire was structured on the basis of the current Park Management Plan with a focus on the macro-topics concerning the visitor management system. The survey was distributed using the Google Form application. A total of 214 questionnaires were collected in the period between May and July 2022. The sample was statistically analysed to detect the main habits of the Park users. The Mann-Whitney-Wilcox U test and the Kruskal-Wallis test were applied to identify the differences in the priorities attributed by visitors to the various management actions. Among the main findings of the research, the authors identified that national visitors (i.e. Croatian) place a higher priority on the implementation of services and infrastructure than tourists from other countries. In addition, those who have visited the Park on multiple occasions have higher safety expectations than those who have only visited the Park once. This category of visitors also considers it more important to take into account the opinions of visitors. Furthermore, with regard to retail and souvenir shops, tourists are generally inclined to set a lower priority for intervention than that attributed to other management aspects. The results of this study can be of great value to Park managers, who should consider visitors as key stakeholders in the decision-making process that is the foundation for managing this important natural resource.

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“…The primary role of this questionnaire was not to serve scientific purposes (the project being not an academic project) but rather to help decision-makers and the project implementation team to understand the profile of the forest visitors. The questionnaire was developed by the main coordinator, the city of Ljubljana, and was implemented by every partner city, with local adaptations being allowed (Box 1) [see also Kičić et al (2020) for the publication of these information and data]. The questionnaire survey was implemented in 2018-2019 (Kičić et al, 2020).…”

Section: Objective 1: Assessing the Ecosystem Supply And Social Demand For Ecosystem Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The questionnaire was developed by the main coordinator, the city of Ljubljana, and was implemented by every partner city, with local adaptations being allowed (Box 1) [see also Kičić et al (2020) for the publication of these information and data]. The questionnaire survey was implemented in 2018-2019 (Kičić et al, 2020). The questionnaire assessed the main activities for which the visitors visit the forest.…”

Section: Objective 1: Assessing the Ecosystem Supply And Social Demand For Ecosystem Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These activities were selected based on the knowledge of the local forest use culture and belonged to the following categories, namely running, hiking, biking, spending time with family, and educational activities, to learn and study nature. These activity categories were similar to those assessed in Zagreb by Kičić et al (2020). For each type of activity, the respondents were asked to mark the importance of that activity for them, with the following importance categories: not important, low important, moderately important, highly important, and very highly important.…”

Section: Objective 1: Assessing the Ecosystem Supply And Social Demand For Ecosystem Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mainstreaming Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in Peri-Urban Forest Park Creation: Experience From Eastern Europe

Sevianu

Maloş

Arghiuş

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The social role of peri-urban forests is diversifying, and this implies that peri-urban forests are redesigned to meet and shape social demands. A key challenge is the integration of the social demands for green spaces with the maintenance of key ecosystem structures and processes as well as the biodiversity of the green spaces. In this study, we report our experience and insights gathered through the implementation of a project targeting a peri-urban forest development near the city of Cluj-Napoca. One key particularity of the project was that it was designed by the city hall in cooperation with a major NGO, and the academic sector joined the project in its second stage, with the aim of mainstreaming ecosystem services and biodiversity within a well-established design concept. After comprehensively assessing the biodiversity and ecosystem services of the targeted forest, we found that the ecosystem supply was strongly related to the tree stand structure and the forestry management from the past decades. The public expressed concerns related to the parts of the established development design, which included built structures, artificial lights, toilets, and paved roads, perceiving that these actions will negatively influence the natural environment. We present the modifications undertaken in the project design after the public consultation and deliberation within the implementation team. An anonymous internal evaluation of the implementation team shows appreciation for the human and professional interactions and the resulting innovation and learning opportunities. To improve interdisciplinary collaborations, there is a need for a good institutional support and financial reward, transparency, and good communication within the team. At the end of the “Discussion” section, we present the insights gathered from this interdisciplinary experience in order to guide further similar projects in Central and Eastern Europe.

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Who Are the Visitors of Forest Park Grmoščica and What Are Their Needs? Results of Quantitative Exploratory Survey

Cited by 7 publications

References 25 publications

Perception and Attitudes of Residents Towards Green Spaces in Croatia – an Exploratory Study

Perception and Attitudes of Residents Towards Green Spaces in Croatia – an Exploratory Study

Exploring Tourist Preferences on the Visitor Management System: the Case Study of Plitvice Lakes National Park

Mainstreaming Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in Peri-Urban Forest Park Creation: Experience From Eastern Europe

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