Recreational and Environmental Markets for Forest Enterprises

Book excerpt: It is now increasingly recognized that forests have multiple functions, and can provide opportunities for leisure, recreation and tourism, and other environmental benefits, as well as timber. In general, such "public goods" are assumed not to be marketable. However, this book challenges this assumption, and shows how these issues can be tackled from an economics and marketing perspective.The work is based on an EU-funded project, conducted from four university or research centres: Hamburg (Germany), Padua (Italy), Vienna (Austria) and Wageningen (The Netherlands). Many case studies and original surveys are presented from these countries, which provide practical solutions to market these forest enterprises. These empirical data are then related to economic models concerning public goods. This book is relevant to those studying or involved in marketing in the forest tourism, recreation and leisure industries.