Evaluation of the commitment of the Krakow Regional Directorate of State Forests and its organizational units to the development of recreational and tourist forest functions*

• Main Authors: Kożuch Anna, Piszczek Marcin, Kuc Maria, Przybylska Barbara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sciendo 2015-06-01
• Series: Forest Research Papers
• Subjects: tourist and recreational forest functions; activity of forest districts; direct and indirect costs; alternative costs
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1515/frp-2015-0014

Forest management affects the scope of various functions provided by forests. Considering the increasing expectations of the society about utilizing non-productive forest, it is important to investigate the commitment of the State Forest units to the development of forest functions. The study’s aim was to evaluate the activity of particular organizational units, namely forest districts of the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Kraków (RDSF Kraków), in adapting forests to serve tourism and recreation. Our analysis covered data from the years of 2005–2009, which was obtained from forest management plans, financial statements and department reports of the RDSF Kraków as well as a questionnaire survey. Both direct and indirect additional costs incurred in order to adapt forests for their recreational function, were included in the analysis. We also attempted to estimate the potentially lost profits. The zero unitarization method was used to identify units showing the greatest and lowest commitment.