Conflict situations and response strategies in urban forests in Switzerland

Abstract

Currently the number of conflicts between forest users is increasing due to new and growing societal demands for forest recreation in addition to the traditional forest function of wood production. Outdoor sports and forest education programmes are adding to the demands on forest use. Even between recreational users there is conflict, e.g. between bikers and hikers. These two causes of conflict are expected to become more acute in the future, which poses new challenges to both forest policy-makers and forest managers. Therefore, analyzing the dynamics and mechanisms of forest recreation governance is crucial to better address societal demands, to maintain or enhance the provision of different forest services, and to manage forest conflicts. This paper analyses forest conflicts that can be traced back to the increasing demand for forest recreation using the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework. The paper focuses on conflicts in urban forests using four case studies from Switzerland. The paper argues that a better understanding of forest recreation governance may improve the management and planning of forest recreation in agglomerations by reducing conflict situations and identifying response strategies. Finally, the findings presented may help to achieve a more cross-sectoral and multi-level approach in forest recreation governance.

Keywords:

• forest recreation
• conflict situation
• urban forest
• response strategy
• forest governance
• Institutional Analysis and Development Framework

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of the paper was presented at Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference 2013 and we thank the participants for their helpful comments. We thank all interview participants for their essential contribution to the study and to two anonymous reviewers for helping us to improve this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research has been funding the research under COST Action FP0804 Forest Management Decision Support Systems (FORSYS).