Introducing environmental management systems in forest recreation: results from a consultation exercise

Abstract

This paper outlines the consultation of recreation managers and stakeholders in forests in the United Kingdom, Portugal and Finland regarding their use of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) to plan, manage and monitor visitor impacts, The results show that there is a critical mass of sites already using the components of an EMS or capable of doing so, with some potential to fully implement an EMS. This informs the development of criteria of an EU funded feasibility study for an ecolabel for forest recreation and tourism sites.