Forests for people seen in a national forest inventory (NFI) perspective: experiences and results of measuring cultural ecosystem services in Denmark

A number of international processes aim to monitor the forest status, which includes cultural values and services like forest recreation – the question is what role National Forest Inventories (NFIs) can play in this context. The Danish NFI is a continuous sample-based inventory with partial re-placement of sample plots based on a 2 x 2 km grid. A number of recreational indicators is registered as part of the NFI measurement procedures, including: access visitor facilities) and abuse (littering, vandalism). Danish forests are easily accessible as a total of 70% of the sample clusters were accessible by forest facilities or other visitor facilities (forest playgrounds, picnic tables etc). The downside to the widespread activity is that litter was found on 20% of the is not available otherwise. The measurements is a valuable contribution to sustainable knowledge-based management and policy decisions, and may serve as a baseline for monitoring the trend in parts of both the supply and demand of forest recreation – as well as the downside of the activity such as littering or vandalism.