Running in forest areas – an analysis of activities undertaken by State Forests

Abstract A growing need to lead a healthy lifestyle and to spend more time in nature causes an increased pressure on forests, which renders their social functions more and more important. In order to meet people’s expectations, the State Forests undertake several actions to make forests more available to the public including the organization of running events in forests and the development of a network of recreational and running paths. In order to describe these actions, an online survey was conducted among the workers of forest districts. Additional data such as information published on the State Forests’ website, Facebook and runners’ blogs, was included in the analysis as well. 283 forest districts participated in the electronic survey. The results indicate that the State Forests actively participated in promoting running events in forests totaling 488 running events in 2014 and 779 between January and October 2017, which constitutes an increase by approximately 60%. The average number of running events in the forest districts during the analysed period was 9.5. Most of them took place in forest districts within city agglomerations and in the mountains. The State Forests supported over 20% of running events organised in the areas they administer. They had also started numerous initiatives (such as ‘Wolność w naturze’, ‘Zielony punkt kontrolny’ and ‘BiegamBoLubię Lasy’) that were evaluated positively by their participants (according to Facebook). In conclusion, it is clear that the State Forests do promote recreation in forests and forest education by supporting public events.