En studie av besöksantalet i tre tätortsnära skogar i Stockholmsområdet med hjälp av Radio Beam Counter : ett räkneverk baserat på radiovågsteknik

Abstract: Forests affect its visitors in many positive ways. It is the acknowledgement of this fact that has prompted an EU-LIFE sponsored project entitled "Urban forests for mankind". It aims to lure or welcome more citizens near urban forests to experience nature in its many forms. In Sweden, three municipalities have decided to take the lead in this effort. Huddinge district, Haninge district, and the Royal Djurgården Administration in conjunction with The National Board of Forestry in Mälardalen are in the midst of this four year project (2001-2005). Their goals are to increase the visitor amount to their respective recreational area by implementing certain efforts such as guiding, enhanced websites, developed visitor services, and more. The main purpose of my study is to quantify the amount of visitors to these three recreational areas. Thereby establishing a base of data results for future comparison. This study will reflect the extent of visitor usage before the different measures to increase visitor frequency have been applied by the three municipalities. Studies performed during and after the implications will therefore be able to compare their data with the data of this study. The second purpose of this study is to become familiar with the technique of the Radio Beam Counter 2000 and evaluate its validity and reliability in the field. The counter is an instrument for measuring visitor use (people, bicyclists, cars, horses, etc.) which up to the date of this study has rarely been used in scientific studies in Sweden. The results of this study show the visitor frequency to three recreational forests located in the Stockholm region under a period stretching from the end of May to the beginning of October. Due to certain fallacies, the areas have not been able to be measured throughout the whole period. Studying the data reveals the popularity of the areas in terms of weekend versus weekday visitor use. The results also point to a higher visitor frequency during late afternoons and evenings. After a period of over 4 months in the field, the study can conclude that the Radio Beam Counter is a recommended instrument for measuring visitor usage of recreational areas. If the two-part instrument (sender and receiver) can be firmly placed and well-hidden from visitors, it measures and logs painlessly the visitor frequency day in and day out. It serves, however, best on single-file trails where hikers are less likely to be registered as one visitor by walking alongside each other.