Social and cultural values of trees and woodlands in northwest and southeast England
Elizabeth O’Brien
Forest Research, Social Research Group, Alice Holt Lodge, Farnham, Surrey, England GU10 4LH.
liz.o’brien@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Abstract
The key issue of 21stcentury forestry is sustainable forest management based on the idea of sus- tainable development. The social element of sustainability has not been given the same promi- nence in forestry as economic and environmental issues, although this is becoming more import- ant as managers realise that the majority of management issues are fundamentally social and political in nature. Differences concerning what people value, such as wildlife and recreation, often underlie the conflicts that can arise between publics and organisations. The objective of this research was to examine people’s values for woodlands in England. Qualitative data were collected, in both urban and rural areas, using a series of in-depth discussion groups that explored in detail the values people associate with woodlands. The findings of the study draw attention to the importance of people’s childhood memories of using woodlands and how this influences their use of these places as adults. People also emphasised feelings of well-being as they described how being in a wood actually made them feel. The implications of the research for future policy devel- opment include the need to build long-term relationships between organisations and publics and provide easily accessible public land.
Keywords: values, identity, well-being, sustainable forest management, education
1 Introduction
The Forestry Commission (FC) is the government department responsible for the protection and expansion of woodlands and forests in Britain (Forestry Commission 1998). Originally created in 1919 to produce a strategic reserve of timber in times of war, the FC’s current remit is more broadly based than it has been in the past. Sustainable forest management is now the major focus for the FC: this acknowledges the social, economic and environmental importance of trees and woodland and is based on the concept of sustainable development (World Commission of Environment and Development 1987). In this post-industrial con- ception of forestry the three FC strategies for England, Scotland and Wales all acknowledge the wide ranging benefits of trees and woodlands such as health and well-being, education and community participation and the role they can play in economic regeneration and rural development.
This paper focuses on the values that people have for trees and woodlands and the mean- ings they ascribe to them. I argue that having a greater understanding of publics’1values is an essential consideration for sustainable forest management. Values are defined here as enduring concepts of worth. Our ideas, whether they are political, religious or concerned with other issues, are connected to our values and impact on our behaviour and actions. In everyday talk we do not explicitly discuss our values although they are embedded in the arguments we present and in our emotional statements. I separate values into three main groups in this paper: 1) economic values that are articulated through consumer preferences and people’s willingness to pay for a particular service or good. 2) Cultural values relating to spiritual, aesthetic, symbolic and historical values. 3) Social values concerned primarily with the interactions and relationships between and among people, these may be wide ranging and include for example belonging, status, friendship and identity (KLAMER2002). A person may value membership of a particular walking group and the feelings of belonging and identity gained as part of that group, while another person may value socialising with friends while cycling or picnicking in a woodland. There are links between the three types of value;
someone may have an aesthetic appreciation (cultural value) for a specific wood within a wider landscape, and the wood may also act as an important meeting place for friends (social value). Economic values would also come into play if people were willing to pay for the conservation of that woodland.
This paper focuses on social and cultural values rather than economic value. Economic approaches have dominated environmental value research over the past two decades, mainly by focusing values down to a single monetary unit based on people’s individual preferences, although it is often ethical and moral issues that become particularly important when discussing the environment and issues concerned with the distribution of public goods (FOSTER1997). These are less easily incorporated within an economic focus (SAGOFF1988).
These ethical issues such as whether private needs for economic development should take precedent over public goods such as ancient woodlands can be included within a social and cultural focus in which values are negotiated, weighed and deliberated among members of society through participatory processes. Through deliberation of social and cultural perspec- tives focusing on collective and individual interest, rather than economic value, reasons and justifications can be given for holding particular values and their intensity can be described;
both of which are important parts of the valuation process. In this research when people discussed what they valued about trees and woodlands they also often spoke of wider issues particularly worries, concerns and fears that could impact on what they valued and change how they used and viewed woodlands. Therefore when people talked about woodlands as an escape from the pressures of contemporary life they also discussed how these spaces were not immune to problems that occurred in wider society, such as anti-social behaviour.
Although values may be deeply held, they are not fixed but may change over time as people develop and adopt new values or re-evaluate them, for example, in the light of new knowl- edge or experience.
People endow trees and woodlands with all kinds of meanings often beyond their apparent usefulness. A tree or woodland may be a symbol of a community, tradition or may be at- tributed with spiritual or aesthetic value. As TINDALL(2003) argues “… for forest managers and policy makers who wish to understand intergroup conflict over forest management it is probably more appropriate to look at the ways in which values underlie positions and con- cerns about forestry.” The respondents involved in the discussion groups were often using a
1 The term publics is used here to denote many different groups of people rather than one homoge- nous public.
range of woodlands from ancient and semi-natural woodland through to coniferous plan- tations. In urban areas people’s main experiences of trees were not necessarily in woodlands but in parks, gardens and on the street. People talked about what they perceived as nature and natural in relation to woodlands as well as the wider environment and there was a range of opinions. Coniferous forests for example were generally perceived as less natural than broadleaved woods as the former were seen to be dominated by exotic rather than native species. As CRONONsuggests (1996: 20) how we perceive nature and understand the term natural has a “long and complicated cultural history which has led different human beings to conceive of the natural world in many different ways”.
2 Environmental values research
There is a considerable body of literature that focuses on understanding the ways in which people value the environment from a range of disciplines including sociology, social psy- chology, economics and philosophy. The diversity of techniques to elicit values broadens the literature base making it difficult to bring together key themes from the range of research undertaken. However recent studies in the United States highlight that ecological, rec- reational and aesthetic values are important to people (MINTER and MANNING 2000;
VINNINGand TAYLOR1999; XUand BENGSTON1997). BENGSTONet al.(2004) explored for- est value orientations by examining news stories that discussed forest planning, policy and management from 1980 to 2002. They suggest that news sources accurately reflect national debate and public opinion about the environment and its management. Their work shows the evolution of American’s relationships with forests over time and they suggest that in the future there will be a blurring of the boundaries between the values of urban and rural people.
SATTERFIELD(2001) explored different approaches to examining values using image and narrative style elicitation techniques which enables respondents to articulate a broader range of environmental values than might be the case in other approaches. She suggested that under naturalistic conditions respondents had much to say about values and that ecological, recreational and spiritual values appeared to be particularly important.
MARSDENet al.(2003) in a study of forestry, community and land in the South Wales Valleys in the United Kingdom undertook a series of focus groups, interviews and ethnographic research to explore people’s constructions and values concerning their forest environment.
They found that local residents in this area were composed largely of disempowered post industrial communities who felt increasingly excluded from the management of the forests that surrounded them. Many saw the forests as man-made, historically imposed on the area because of the need for timber production.
COLESand BUSSEY(2000) undertook a study of urban woodlands in England and found that people placed a high value on these areas, they also found that forestry professionals generally underestimated this value. DIETZet al.(1989) studied environmental management professionals and found that they often assumed that the public would have similar values to their own. DIETZet al.(1989) argued that this was not always the case and there was a need to explore publics’ values in more detail. SCHMITHUSENand WILD-ECK(2000) carried out a literature review focusing on public perceptions of forests and found that forests had a range of meanings concerning the uses people made of them in their daily lives as well as values related to personal identification with forests. ROBSONet al.(2000) undertook a mail survey in Canada of local residents of a forest dependent region and wider provincial and Canadian publics to explore whether there were differences between these groups. While local residents in the forest dependent region did place higher value on the economic importance of forests
all of the respondents supported multi-value management of forests over single value management such as timber production. This wide ranging body of research, some of which is briefly mentioned here, provides important evidence of the ways in which a variety of publics in different countries value woodlands. It emphasises that management of wood- lands for multiple values is becoming increasingly important to people in many countries.
The research outlined in this paper contributes another layer to this broad literature base. It highlights, as other studies have done, that there are many ways in which people value wood- lands and organisations that manage these habitats need to be aware of this range of values and incorporate them into their decision making processes.
3 Research methodology
The aim of the research was to explore and gain an understanding of the values people attribute to trees and woodlands. Qualitative and interpretive methods were used to gain an insight into people’s experiences of nature. Recent research by HENWOODand PIDGEON
(2001) and BISHOPet al.(2002) highlight how deliberative qualitative methods have been used to bring together different groups of people to discuss why trees and woodlands are of value to them. Members of the public were brought together for a series of in-depth dis- cussion groups to deliberate on the importance of different aspects of trees and woodlands and their own personal associations with them and to discuss this within a group setting. This type of approach can help to provide understanding about ways of bringing together social, cultural and political concerns as well as economic and environmental issues (SEALE1998).
Deliberative in-depth discussion groups are useful when we want to understand why respon- dents think as they do and the meanings they give to their actions. People are allowed to articulate their views and experiences and explain and defend to others in the group why they hold those views. A purposeful sampling strategy was used in which respondents were recruited from a range of ages, geographical locations and socio-economic backgrounds. A few specific interest groups were also included, such as a group actively involved in trying to improve their local woodland, in order to gain insights into their concerns and priorities.
This paper focuses on the values discussed by four specific groups, out of a total of sixteen, from research undertaken in England. The discussion groups are used here as examples of the ways that people talked about woodlands in their groups and what they value about them and how they discuss them in relation to wider aspects of their lives. These groups were situated in both urban and rural areas in the southeast and the northwest of England (Fig. 1 and Table 1). The urban groups included a group of mothers with young children from Southampton. The majority of these women lived in the inner city of Southampton, a large urban area on the coast in southern England. The second urban group was a woodland group living on a deprived estate in Knowsley, Merseyside in the northwest. This group was actively involved in trying to improve their local woodland that adjoins the large housing estate in which they live. This woodland group was working with, and obtaining help from, their Local Authority and the Mersey Forest: which is one of twelve Community Forests in England focusing on social and economic regeneration through woodland creation. The rural groups were from Heathfield – a small market town in East Sussex and from Ambleside – a village situated in the Lake District National Park; one of the most visited areas of England.
Fig. 1. Study locations and woodland cover in northwest and southeast England.
3.1 Woodland resource in the study areas
Woodland cover in each of the four areas in which the groups were located revealed signifi- cant differences between the southeast and the northwest. Heathfield located in East Sussex has over sixteen and a half per cent woodland cover with broadleaves dominating (Forestry Commission 2001). Hampshire in which Southampton is situated has over seventeen and a half per cent woodland cover, again with broadleaves dominating. The New Forest, often visited by the Southampton group, is within easy reach of Southampton. It is 3000 hectares of ancient and ornamental unenclosed woodland grazed by deer, ponies and cattle. The New Forest is currently in the process of being designated a national park for its outstanding landscape quality. Ambleside is located in Cumbria in northwest England and has nine and a half per cent woodland cover with conifers dominating. Merseyside in which Knowsley is located has just over three and a half per cent woodland cover. The groups in these areas had different opportunities to access woodlands and this was reflected in the discussions, for example, when people spoke about their feelings of personal safety when using woodlands, rural groups with a greater woodland resource nearby felt safer in and more familiar with woodlands than urban groups who had less woodland cover in their area.
Table 1. Discussion groups.
Location Respondents Age Range Numbers
involved Southampton, Hampshire (urban) Mothers with young children group 20–40 9
Knowsley, Merseyside (urban) Woodland group 45+ 10
Ambleside, Cumbria (rural) Residents 36+ 6
Heathfield, East Sussex (rural) Residents 20–35 7
3.2 Thematic analysis: data processing and interpretation
All of the group deliberations, which lasted approximately one and a half-hours, were recorded and transcribed verbatim. A topic protocol was used to guide the group discussions in order to cover a range of issues such as people’s use of woodlands both public and private, feelings of well-being, access and accessibility of woodlands, and crime and safety issues related to woodlands. An inductive methodological approach was undertaken, therefore rather than beginning with a set of categorical schemes or hypotheses themes emerged during the research and analysis of the data. Respondents were informed of what the research entailed and how their views were important. They were told that their responses in the discussions would remain anonymous. The majority of respondents expressed pleasure in talking about the subject of woodlands and being asked for their views. Data were analysed by coding and segmenting the text and identifying major themes using NVivo, a qualitative software package (BAZELEY and RICHARDS 2000). The thematic analysis involved methodically reading through the discussion group verbatim transcripts and coding the text into categories that highlighted what was discussed for example, the various ways people used woodlands such as walking and cycling became a category. These categories were changed and adapted as the analysis progressed and were used to help summarise and synthesise the data. These could then be explored for any differences and similarities
between, for example, what men or women spoke about, and to explore the concerns of different age groups, or examine patterns between urban and rural respondents. Codes are words that act as signposts that point to particular issues in the data and enable the researcher to collect specific topics they have noticed for further thought, analysis and refinement. A phrase such as “… you can go away and you can think about other things” was coded under well-being. Woodland here was seen as somewhere this person could go to get away from the stresses of everyday life, particularly work, and recuperate.
The research focuses on intersubjectivity; that is the shared meanings constructed by citizens in their interactions with each other which helps to explain how people construct their social and cultural worlds. The analysis focused on how people presented explanations and reveals how people feel and attempt to deal with certain issues. Different groups for example talked about wild and managed nature by drawing on accounts of their own experi- ences of visiting a variety of green spaces and the perceived levels of management they saw in these areas. People make sense of things in different ways, their accounts are important because they shape the practical ways in which people respond for example to different types of management. By breaking down the data and exploring it in detail then through the process of interpreting the categories and exploring connections between them a number of overarching broader themes emerged concerning people’s sense of identity, education, risk and fear, and the loss of woodlands and green space. Qualitative research is effective in providing insights into the meaning of responses given, for example the loss of woodland to development was underlain by concerns from respondents about a lack of opportunity to be able to make a contribution to decision making processes. This type of research approach is also useful in providing explanatory depth focusing on why people respond as they do.
When people spoke warmly about enjoying woodlands and were asked about their child- hood experiences of using them, they provided vivid accounts of visiting woods when young with family and friends, playing games and having picnics.
The results are discussed in the next two sections, the first focuses on values pertaining to the relationships between and among people such as identity, learning and exchanging knowledge and the impacts on people of anti-social behaviour and perceptions of personal safety. The second outlines some of the cultural values discussed relating to aesthetics, perspectives on what is natural, as well as symbolic and historical values. Verbatim quotes from respondents are given and end with the gender of the respondent, their location and the age range or interest of the group the respondent was in, and whether they were located in an urban or rural area. These quotes were chosen to illustrate the ways in which people from each group talked about woodlands and what was important to them. It shows the language and style that people use to discuss woodlands and reflects their experiences, beliefs and values.
4 Social values
4.1 Personal and community identity: memories and public involvement
One of the ways in which people’s sense of their own personal identity was articulated was through descriptions of their childhood experiences of using trees and woodlands.
Childhood memories of using woodlands seemed to be linked to frequent use as an adult;
people talked about how they went back to familiar valued places and often took their children to the places they had visited and enjoyed as a child. Childhood was often spoken of as a time of freedom when respondents had the opportunity to explore and use their
imagination. People talked enthusiastically of building dens, climbing trees and playing games in woodlands “I just remember going to play and the trees and it was brilliant” (Male, Heathfield, age 20–35, rural). The size of trees to a child was described and their ability to hide people created a sense of mystery and magic.
It was my father who used to take me to the woodlands, he used to say listen to the sounds and you could listen to the leaves and it was a really lovely sound.
… we used to go out for the day.Female, Ambleside, age 35+, rural
The woodland group in Knowsley identified themselves as a group involved in improving local woodlands for the benefit of their community. The group had originally started with a focus on cleaning up Littlewood to get rid of some of the litter and rubbish within the wood.
Respondents in this group lived on a deprived estate in which residents suffered from high levels of unemployment and long term sickness; and over sixty per cent of households had no access to a private car (National Statistics Online, 2003). Littlewood is an 8-hectare woodland dating from the early 1800s. A track runs through the woodland: it is a centuries old coach road joining the estates of Knowsley and Croxteth Park. Oaks and sweet chestnut are dominant in the wood. As the woodland group became more involved and received encouragement and some funding from the Local Authority and the Mersey Forest, they evolved and established a much broader interest in the woodland. The group particularly wanted to focus on the younger generation interesting them in the environment and instilling them with some respect for nature. They encouraged the local school to participate by holding a design competition for the creation of a totem pole in the woodland and organised the development of a junior rangers team.
Well I think actually it’s grown with the group the awareness that I’ve spoken about … the learning process that’s grown, that’s evolved with this group.Male, Woodland Group, Knowsley, urban
4.2 Learning about the environment
Diverse values were articulated in the discussions and the woodland group and mothers with young children group clearly attached great value to the idea of education and learning for children. They suggested that often children on urban estates, like their own, had little opportunity to have contact with nature and would not learn to respect it or have interest in it unless they knew more and became familiar with woodland or green spaces. The woodland group suggested that a lot of youngsters had not been taught to care but argued that if young people were taken out into a woodland, then from their own experience they did become very interested.
… a plus was on Saturday morning George and a few other people they had some young children in the woods making birds boxes and they were thoroughly interested, having a great time.Male, Woodland group, Knowsely, urban
I think if you can talk to kids, not talk down to them but speak to them and listen to what they’ve got to say … you get through.Male, Woodland group, Knowsely, urban
Rural respondents also considered education to be of importance but this was focused less on children and more on opportunities for life long learning for all ages through regular use of woodlands. Organisations involved in the management of green space can also learn from people who view and use their local woodlands on a daily or weekly basis. Local users may have important knowledge about who uses green spaces, how these spaces were used in the past, what sort of state the area is in and if that is changing for the better or worse.
4.3 Risk, fear and safety
Women who spoke of the value of woodlands were also often concerned about their own and their children’s safety in woodlands. Safety was an important topic in the discussions particularly for women, the majority of whom said they would not venture into woodlands alone because they perceived these areas to be unsafe and they felt uneasy being alone in them. This was particularly the case for women in urban areas, four of whom spoke of being harassed by men in open spaces and woodlands. These incidents made the women think twice about going to places such as parks or woodlands alone because trees and dense vegetation reduced visibility and were able to hide people. High profile media reports of bodies found in woodlands made people wary and fearful of using them alone. Even if they considered the risk to be small nevertheless respondents spoke of how media stories remained in the back of their mind and affected what they did. Anti-social behaviour such as young people drinking and being rowdy also contributed to feelings of unease. Lack of visible management in which rubbish, signs of drug taking and other forms of abuse were taking place also engendered feelings of worry and concern.
I mean the biggest problem in any open space area around here are kids stealing cars and abandoning them or setting fire to them, you’ve got kids on scrambling bikes, they’ve wrecked the woods and because you don’t know where they’re going to come from people won’t ramble through the woods, it becomes a no-go area.Male, Woodland group, Knowsley, urban
There is increasing concern regarding the issue of a lack of childhood connection to the natural world (BELL et al.2003; THOMASand THOMPSON2004). This may be due to the variety of indoor activities children get involved with such as computers and television programmes and also parental concerns over childrens’ safety outdoors.
5 Cultural values
5.1 Perspectives on natureIn talking about nature and what was perceived as natural especially in relation to wood- lands people distinguished between what they called wild and managed nature. A wild area did not necessarily mean somewhere in the countryside away from urban centres but could mean small patches of woodland in large urban areas that appeared to be unmanaged or overgrown. This was contrasted with nature as managed space in which people recognised management activities in the form of specific paths for walking, car parks, facilities such as play areas or toilets and areas with interpretation or active timber production. Nature in urban areas was a contrast to people’s everyday lives while in rural areas there was an appreciation by respondents of the richness of their surrounding environment. A gentle
form of management was generally preferred by all of the respondents even those whose actual preference was for nature and solitude. There appeared to be a number of reasons for this:
– People felt more secure in what appeared to be managed areas;
– People felt they were less likely to get lost;
– Ease of use because specific paths were sometimes available for those who were elderly, those in wheelchairs and those with pushchairs.
[Those woods]are managed, you can see it’s managed… you can walk through with no problems… [With a]formal layout there is safety and security… Male, Woodland Group, Knowsely, urban
The Heathfield groups were more attracted to wilder woodlands possibly because of their greater familiarity with local woodlands in their area, the extent of woodland cover and a desire to seek out “unknown places”. Particular experiences that were felt to be unique to woodlands were described including the sounds in a wood such as the wind through the leaves, the light through the trees and the smells based on leaf mould and dampness “cool, fresh and green smells”. One respondent described woodlands as “very sensual”. Autumn colours were enjoyed for the sheer aesthetic pleasure they gave as well as the range of shapes and sizes in the trees themselves. The groups described woodlands as more natural than forests which were often perceived to be planted, non-native, managed for timber and therefore commercially oriented, whereas woodlands were seen as smaller and wilder.
SOLNIT(2001: 84) argues that our desire to go out into nature is partly the result of “three centuries of cultivating certain beliefs, tastes and values”. There is a specific cultural history in Britain to choosing to go out into the landscape to contemplate nature and enjoy its aes- thetic, inspirational or spiritual pleasures stemming largely from the Romantic Movement of the 18thcentury.
5.2 Loss and change to familiar nature
The value of woodlands and green space was expressed by all of the groups although repeated concerns were voiced about the loss of these areas either to business or housing develop- ment or due to private land changing ownership and public access being reduced or denied.
Underlying these key comments were feelings of powerlessness for respondents to have any say or influence in the conservation or protection of the spaces that they particularly valued.
The exchange below emphasises the frustrations that were expressed over the near loss of green space that was felt to be an important resource for the local community in Ambleside. The lack of consultation with the community about the possible sale of land was seen as particularly poor and led to worries that further change would take place to other green spaces before people were informed and could make a suitable protest. The respon- dents felt threatened by changes they had no knowledge of or control over. There is also an element of ownership in this debate; people felt that the resource belonged to them and therefore when this was threatened it was perceived as a personal attack. The situation also raises ethical issues concerning management of the environment and about appropriate con- sultation with local people over what was seen as a community resource.
(Male)A field that was given to the local community … and the local council were going to sell it off for housing … and we lobbied and managed to get that saved.
(Female)They decided to sell it off for housing without consulting us first.
(Male)…it’s only if you find out in time though isn’t it? Ambleside group, age 35+, rural
Urban groups predominantly worried about loss of contact with nature that might occur if green spaces and woodlands were reduced, both for themselves but especially for their children who they thought did not have as much contact with nature as they had had when they were young. Parents concerns regarding this centred on a number of issues:
– the lack of woodland or green space near to where they lived;
– time constraints within busy modern lives;
– worries that young people would not be safe alone or with friends when visiting wood- land unless accompanied by an adult.
5.3 Nature as public or private space
The urban groups, particularly, gave little thought to who owned the land they used because in urban areas green spaces were often publicly accessible. Respondents generally used public space owned by local councils or the Forestry Commission or they used private space that was owned by Non-Governmental Organisations who often allowed public access such as the National Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Rural groups were more aware of private land which they often did not have access to. This was not considered a particular problem except when sometimes previously accessible land was sold and access was denied by new owners; possibly because the new owners wanted greater privacy.
… like the woods down the road … they’ve just been bought by somebody and you used to be able to walk there for the last twenty years or so and now this guy’s bought the woods and you’ve got to buy a license to walk there.Female, Heathfield, age 20–35, rural
The urban groups expressed some feelings of uncertainty about where people were allowed to go in the countryside, which areas were public space and which areas were private, and this raises issues about social inclusion and the use of the countryside particularly for groups who are not frequent or familiar users.
5.4 Feelings of well-being in nature
Some respondents, particularly in the urban groups, talked about “nature as escape” from their mainly urban lives in which they were surrounded by buildings, large numbers of people and the noise of traffic and industry. Feelings of contentment were articulated when people described being out in what they perceived as nature. There was more intensity in people’s descriptions of trees and woodlands than when they spoke of other types of green spaces. People described feeling healthier and more energetic when they used woodlands, there was a sense of achievement: “you feel as if you’ve done something” (Female, Liverpool, age 20–35, urban). Feelings of well-being related predominantly to mental and emotional well-being rather than physical well-being.
There is a lot of stress, a lot of pressure and a lot of tiredness involved today in a lot of jobs and you can go away and you can think about you know other things.Male, Ambleside, age 35+, rural
While the physical benefits such as taking exercise, being in what was perceived as a cleaner and fresher environment were considered to be important they did not dominate in the same way as when groups talked about woodlands as somewhere to get away from everyday worries and be calm and relaxed. This coincides with a range of research on the health, well-being and therapeutic aspects of woodlands and natural spaces (HENWOOD 2001;
RHODEand KENDLE1994; TABBUSHand O’BRIEN2003).
5.5 Symbolic and historical associations
The historic significance of trees and some woodlands was felt to be important. A number of respondents suggested that trees were symbolic or representative of specific concepts or ideologies. This is a similar finding to HENWOODand PIDGEON’s (2001) work on forestry and culture in Wales in which the symbolic importance of trees and woodlands were empha- sised and was an important reason behind people’s aesthetic appreciation of woodlands.
People in the discussion groups spoke of how the oak was representative of Britain because it was strong, reliable and sturdy. For the Southampton group oak was noted as historically important for the shipbuilding industry that had dominated the port at one time. It was suggested that trees were also a symbol of life and because of their longevity they provide a link between the past, present and future. Trees were also felt to symbolise a healthy environ- ment and this was related to discussions on changes in the climate and the loss of forests in other parts of the world. Old mature trees or woodlands that had specific associations with historical figures, special events or were embedded in folk stories, such as Sherwood Forest and Robin Hood, were considered to be particularly important.
6 Discussion
The values and meanings described in this study reveal the ways in which people talk about the importance of trees and woodlands not only to themselves but also to their community and wider society. This work builds on previous research that explored woodland values and as with a number of other studies has found that people value woodlands in a diverse range of ways (BISHOPet al.2002; HENWOODand PIDGEON2001; SCHMITHUSENand WILD-ECK
2000). There is a growing body of work focusing on urban woodlands and green space which highlight the importance of very small natural areas particularly in terms of their impact on people’s sense of well-being (BELL et al. 2003; COLES and BUSSEY 2000; RHODE and KENDLE1994). One of the main discoveries of this research was that when talking to people about woodlands the discussion was always linked to wider issues to do with people’s relationships with nature, the fast pace of change in contemporary life which often generated feelings of anxiety, and concerns about the loss of green space and wildlife. Box 1 highlights the variety of meanings associated with woodlands that were outlined in the group deliber- ations.
Box 1. Varied meanings associated with woodlands.
– Locations for learning and education both formal and informal – Social settings: a place to be with families, partners and friends – Symbols of nature and environmental health
– Locations for improving well-being particularly mental and emotional well-being – Community locations for action, activity and social participation
– Low cost area for activity particularly for families and those on low incomes
Issues raised by the research have implications for future management and policy develop- ment for the Forestry Commission in England. These include issues to do with access and accessibility. People felt the need to have contact with what they perceived as natural space and even small green spaces or individual trees could be very important particularly in urban areas. Therefore there is a need for there to be a variety of accessible places in close proximity to where people live as people tend to use woodlands and green space more frequently if they live close to them. There are possible opportunities for developing part- nerships with transport organisations to enable those without private cars to visit wood- lands.
The feelings of well-being people described were significant, particularly their emphasis on escaping from the stresses of modern living. This has important implications in terms of mental health. A number of projects in England currently focus on health and well-being and are trying to reduce pressure on the National Health Service by encouraging people to take preventative measures in respect of their health. These projects need to be co-ordinated and evaluated so that any evidence of health and well-being benefits can be consistently identified. Personal and community identity was generally focused on the value of spaces near to where people lived and their familiarity with places they had used when young and often continued to use as adults. It emphasises the emotional attachment that can be found when people accumulate experience in natural areas and this was found by HUGHESand MORRISON-SAUNDERS(2003) in their study of visitor attitudes to a modified natural attrac- tion. Changes that took place to these special places without people’s prior knowledge had a particularly important impact on them and these changes were often resented especially if no prior consultation had taken place. Effective public participation which is considered an important part of sustainable development, would enable citizens to have more input into decisions concerning the management of trees and woodlands.
A key issue raised by the majority of women was that they would feel unsafe visiting woodlands alone. The strength of people’s feelings differed to a certain extent between urban and rural areas with urban women feeling more vulnerable. Women described how seeing rangers and wardens made them feel safer and that managed woodlands which did not appear to be neglected or vandalised also generated greater feelings of safety. Voluntary rangers are being recruited in the New Forest to enhance visitor enjoyment and carry out conservation work, a significant benefit of this could be the greater feelings of ease for women using the New Forest if they know rangers are in the vicinity in case they need help.
The range of values described by publics in this research emphasises that trees and wood- lands are much more than places to go to carry out recreational actives. Table 2 outlines some of the views of each of the four groups. Better understanding of these views and values can provide organisations and managers with a clearer idea of the connections people make between the woodlands they use and view as part of the landscape and wider concerns articulated about contemporary life.
Table 2. Characteristics and views of the discussion groups.
Discussion groups Characteristics and views
Knowsley, woodland group The level of social commitment distinguished this group from the others.
They wanted the local woodland to be an amenity for the community rather than a place to be abused. With support and funding they developed a broad concept of how the site could benefit local people.
They wanted to educate young people.
Southampton, Mothers This group was child focused. They wanted somewhere for children to be with young children able to let off steam and be reasonably unconstrained. They also wanted
inexpensive places to take their children to as well as safe and secure space.
Heathfield, younger group Liked to seek out more unknown places. Greater familiarity with woodlands because of the greater woodland cover in their immediate vicinity. Therefore this group had slightly less concerns about personal safety in woodlands.
Ambleside, older group This group related the ever changing Lakeland landscape to changeable weather patterns. This group liked to go out in all weathers. There was more talk of solitude and the importance of sometimes being alone in this group.
7 Conclusions
In summary this piece of research provides information for land managers and policy makers of how publics’ value trees and woodlands. Regarding the practical management of woodland there are a number of opportunities to address people’s, particularly women’s, concerns about risk and safety. This could include the organisation of group walks in which people can join with others to go out into woodland. This is being undertaken in many areas in England through an initiative called “Walking to Health”. The aim is to encourage people to become more physically active and improve mental well-being. However, an important issue that has been discovered from an evaluation of this initiative is that people particularly enjoy the social contact they have with others. The socialising, and the green space itself, is also a key factor in ensuring that people sustain this type of activity overtime. Providing a range of activities and events can also encourage social interaction and participation and can help to familiarise people with woodlands and encourage them to develop a sense of owner- ship of their local spaces.
This work has highlighted that there are a number of ways in which people’s values and concerns can be incorporated into the sustainable management of trees and woodlands. It emphasises that people do not talk about woodlands as something separate from their everyday lives. They relate concerns about using and enjoying woodlands to wider issues about safety within modern society, about access to places that enable them to relax from the everyday pressures of work, and also as places that can play a valuable role in education and learning for all ages. I suggest that these links to wider issues, setting trees and wood- lands in the wider landscape context, need to be explored in more detail with a wider range of publics in different areas in Britain.
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Accepted March 21, 2005
