Three questions framed a study examining the connection between childhood experience and adult forest recreational practices: 1) How does childhood forest experience influence the frequency of forest visits at adulthood? 2) What is the role of other determinants of forest visitation frequency? and 3) To what extent does adulthood frequency of forest visitation vary among nine European countries? While previous research indicates that recreational activities in adulthood are influenced by the outdoor experience during childhood, research focusing specifically on forest recreational practices and involving multiple countries is scarce. This study, then, adds to the literature by analyzing the childhood-adulthood relationship in forest recreation and covering many countries. This study also explored several predictive variables, including type of residential area (rural, urban), distance to the nearest forest, age, gender, education, household income, and children under 18.
A total of 8,793 adults from nine different European countries (approximately 1000 per country) completed online surveys asking respondents to share information about their current forest recreation practices and their childhood experiences with forests. Their responses relating to frequency of both child and adult forest visits were coded as “more frequent", “frequent”, and “less frequent” corresponding to the frequency of visits at least once a week, once a month, or once a year, respectively.
Responses indicated that the majority of respondents from each country except France and UK can be considered frequent visitors. Responses from more than half of the participants in France and UK indicated that they were less frequent visitors. Responses relating to childhood experiences indicated that about 74% of the participants had the opportunity to visit forests at least once a month. There were some variations across the different countries, however. More than 40% of the respondents from Poland, Slovakia, and UK were categorized as less frequent visitors during their childhood. In Austria and Switzerland, less than 35% were less frequent visitors. Being older increased the frequency of forest visits; having children younger than 18 decreased this frequency. Respondents living in rural areas were more likely to be frequent forest visitors than respondents living in urban areas. Living closer to forest sites also increased the likelihood of greater frequency of forest visits. Being a more frequent forest visitor in childhood, however, played a stronger role on visitation frequency in adulthood than other factors.
Overall responses showed that “being a more frequent visitor compared to a less frequent visitor in childhood significantly increases the probability of being a more frequent or frequent visitor at adulthood.” This indicates that the frequency of forest visits as an adult is strongly associated with childhood forest-related experiences. This research highlights the importance of forest accessibility to children for developing better forest recreational habits that support healthy lifestyles and may promote pro-environmental ethics. While the implications of this study apply to different groups of people, they are especially relevant for decision makers in forest management and land use planning.
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