In the questionnaire,
the contingent valuation method (cf. Mitchell
and Carson, 1989) was used in order to
obtain data for assessing the recreation
value, in economic terms, given different
attributes of the forests. The recreation value
of entire forest landscapes resulting from
different silvicultural practices was assessed,with no special attention to the stand types
constituting the forest landscapes
In the present study, we have exploited further
the dataset obtained by the contingent
valuation questionnaire, with the aim to put
a money measure on the recreation value of
various stand types, or phases of the rotation
period, within different silvicultural systems.
We thus go into more detail regarding the
effects of silviculture on the economic value
of forests for recreation than did Mattsson
and Li (1994a). Furthermore, we analyse the
possibilities to increase this economic value
by prolonging phases (increasing the areal
extent of stand types) that are especially
favoured by recreationists and/or shortening
phases (decreasing the extent of stand types)
that are not favoured.
The concept forest recreation has different
meanings for different people. In the present
study forest recreation is defined as onsite
activities such as berry and mushroom
picking, hiking, taking walks, and camping
in the forest, as well as the off-site visual
experience of the forest. This means that
some forest recreation activities, e.g. hunting,
are outside the scope of the study.
Materials and methods
The contingent valuation questionnaire was
part of a research project focused on Swedish
boreal forests (‘Land use, timber production
and biodiversity in boreal forests’). Since the
county of Vasterbotten is a typical boreal ¨
forest province of Sweden, this county was
chosen as study area. The sample that the
questionnaire was sent to was a systematic
random sample of 2000 individuals, aged
between 17 and 74 years, in the county. The
total population within this age span in the
county is 179 000 individuals.
In the questionnaire, some questions concerned
the individual’s habits regarding forest
recreation (frequency, duration, purpose,
etc.) and personal characteristics (age, sex,
education, occupation, household income,
etc.). Both the continuous and the discrete
choice valuation question formats (i.e. variants
of the contingent valuation method,
Mitchell and Carson, 1989) were employed.
In the continuous valuation question, the
individual was asked to state the absolute
amount that he/she was willing to payannually for using/experiencing the forests
for recreation as previously (the alternative
being a loss of this part of the individual’s welfare).The discrete choice valuation question
was asked in an analogous manner, except
that the individual was requested to answer
only whether or not he/she was willing to pay
a predetermined amount (which was varied
across the sample). These valuation questions
were accompanied by an instruction to
the respondents to consider forest recreation
as defined above.