Assessing the recreational value and preferences in the city forest of Freiburg, Germany

Urban forests provide important cultural ecosystem services to the population of cities. In this study, we assessed the recreational value of the urban forest of the city Freiburg and the forest visitors’ preferences for recreation. Both economic and non-economic valuation techniques were employed, and potential conflicts and synergies with other forest ecosystem services considered. We conducted an on-site survey applying contingent valuation (CV) and a preference study of forest stand characteristics for recreation. The CV method showed that the estimated annual willingness-to-pay (WTP) by visitors for improving the forest for recreation was 14.42€ per person, or 2.52€ per trip, while WTP to the forest management for climate change adaptation was 17.39€ per person, or 2.74€ per trip. Extrapolated to the annual number of visits to the forest (4 million), the total recreational value can be estimated at as much as 10–11 million € per year. The preference study revealed that recreationists prefer tree stands that are diverse in species and tree size composition with medium amounts of ground vegetation and undergrowth as well as high amounts of deadwood. While deadwood was traditionally removed for forest recreation, our results indicate a different perception of deadwood. Given that structurally diverse forests are preferred and most people perceive no conflict between timber production and recreation, our study supports the current forest governance system following a multifunctional forest management approach. • On-site recreation survey in urban forest of Freiburg, Germany. • Recreationists prefer diverse forests with high amount of deadwood. • Recreation value (€10–11 M/yr) exceeds its costs and timber income. • Perceived trade-offs with other ecosystem services are small.