ASSESSMENT OF FOREST RECREATION ACCESSIBILITY IN LATVIA

During the past few decades, amenity value of forest has been increasing significantly. The forests of Latvia cover about 56% of the total area; more than 80% of Latvia inhabitants use the forests to satisfy their needs. Sustainable use of forest requires detailed mapping of the forest cover and assessment of its suitability as a recreational facility. The demand for forest recreation depends on the number of inhabitants, weekenders, vacationers, and the type of recreation or recreational activity they expect. It also depends on the size of the town, the distance between town and the forest, forest density, and spatial distribution of forest areas. The objective of this study has been to analyze the present recreational requirements, assess accessibility to recreational areas, and to facilitate social functioning of recreational forests with the help of Geo-information. Recreational suitability was assessed based on the existing plans, combined with theoretical and empirical studies on preferences and use of forest. A questionnaire, together with map-based (GIS technique) indicators of the most popular activities for recreation, was used to obtain information on the distribution of visitors in forest blocks of Riga city region, each year. This research helps in improving the existing methodologies of forest management and in formulating forest recreational policy.