Visitation and non-wood product collection in Slovak forests in comparison with Czechia

This article explores forest visitation and the collection of mushrooms and wild forest fruits in Slovakia from 2020 to 2024, comparing these trends with harmonized data from Czechia, a closely related country in Central Europe. Utilizing nationally representative repeated cross-sectional surveys (Slovakia, N = 5,129; Czechia, N = 5,026), we assess participation rates, harvest intensities, and the inequality in the distribution of collected quantities through descriptive statistics, Lorenz curves, and Gini coefficients. In Slovakia, 48% of adults reported visiting forests only occasionally, while 27.6% indicated no visits at all; in contrast, participation was consistently higher in Czechia, where nearly 70% of adults were regular visitors. On average, 30.3% of Slovak adults collected mushrooms, and 14.5% gathered wild fruits, with a pronounced concentration among a small number of highly active collectors (Gini: mushrooms 0.84; fruits 0.95). This contrasts with lower inequality in Czechia (0.67; 0.76). Regional differences within Slovakia reflect the distribution of forest cover and accessibility, with the highest levels of both visitation and collection observed in the Žilinský and Banskobystrický regions. These findings indicate that, despite the legal framework allowing open access, forest recreation and foraging are socially selective in practice. They also provide an empirical foundation for communication, education, and green-infrastructure initiatives aimed at engaging younger and urban residents, thereby promoting more equitable access to forest-based benefits.