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The article presents the results of a questionnaire survey that aimed at determining social preferences in relation to running as an active form of leisure in the forests. In 2016 the internet survey covered 346 people living in Poland, and 294 people from the Czech Republic, interested in running and jogging. The questionnaire included questions such as: the frequency of running events in the forest and the factors determined the respondent participation in running event in forests. Statistical analysis of the impact of personal characteristics (gender, age, residence) and experience in running on the preferences of respondents was carried out using the chi−square test. The results of research conducted in Poland suggest that men dominated among the respondents. The majority people aged 35−44 and were urban residents. Over half of the respondents declared that they are doing athletic or recreational running for more than 4 years. Among the respondents in the Czech Republic women prevailed. The largest group included respondents in the age of 25−34, urban inhabitants. Over half of the respondents declared that they are doing running from a year to four years. Results from both countries show that forests are an attractive place for running. However people from Poland were able to point out more forest running events on national or regional level and they have taken part in these events more often. The most significant factors determining the attractiveness of running events in forest include: general atmosphere prevailing at the event and the attractiveness of the running route. The preferences significantly varied mainly in terms of gender, age and experience in running. In both countries the longer experience in running, the more respondents were able to indicate a specific sport event and claim they had participated in some sport events, and also the more often they point out ‘general atmosp here prevailing at the event’ as a factor affecting attractiveness of the forest sport events., Sylwan 162 (7): 610-616

The article presents the results of questionnaire survey, which aimed to determine social preferences in relation to running as a form of active leisure time in the forests. In 2016 the survey covered 346 people over 18 years of age. As a research tool we used an internet questionnaire, which included questions about such issues as: the frequency of running in the forest, the preferred season and the views on advantages and disadvantages of running in forest areas. The questionnaire was distributed via social media (eg Facebook) among people interested in running. Statistical analysis of the impact of personal characteristics (gender, age, place of residence) and experience in running on the respondent preferences was carried out using the chi−square test. Men dominated among the respondents. The majority were people aged 35−44 and urban residents. Over half of the respondents declared that they are doing athletic or recreational running for more than 4 years. Results show that forests in Poland are an attractive place for running. The most preferred season for running in the forest was summer and spring. Most respondents run in the forest several times a week. The most frequently mentioned advantages of running in the forest included: contact with nature, clean air, and landscape – pleasant environment. Subsequently, the respondents pointed to the lack of traffic control infrastructure, and lack or a small number of other recreational people. Among the disadvantages of running in the forest, respondents mentioned mainly: the presence of tick, hunters, and lack of clearly marked and illuminated routes. Other factors limiting the comfort of running in the forests were: uneven road surface or problems with phone connection. The results showed that the preferences varied significantly, mainly in terms of gender, age and experience in running. The age and experience of respondents have an influence on preferences regarding the frequency of running in forests. The preferences of the respondents referring to the advantages and disadvantages of running in the forests are different due to gender, age and number of years of their experience. The analysis of respondents’ preferences leads to the conclusion that for the development of running in forests, promoting the forest as a friendly running place, it is important to have appropriate recreational forest management, including, first of all, proper layout of forest road networks and their markings., Sylwan 162 (4): 305-313

The article presents the changes in the preferences of people vacationing in the forests of the Mazowiecki Landscape Park (MPK) in the years 2000−2012. The study covered the preferences for the frequency and duration of rest in the forest and the places and forms of recreation carried out in the MPK forests. These preferences were established on the basis of surveys conducted in the field. In 2000, a questionnaire was sent to 755 people vacationing in the MPK forests. In 2012, the survey covered 390 people vacationing within the MPK. In both cases, the survey involved people over 18 years of age. Preferences of respondents in both studies were compared using the chi−square independence test. The results showed that within twelve years the preferences of respondents in the frequency range of leisure, choice of the place and forms of recreation changed significantly. There was an increase in the number of respondents frequently utilising the MPK forests for recreation and leisure interested in areas equipped with appropriate recreational infrastructure. The share of respondents making such recreational activities in forests as horse riding, cycling and observing nature significantly increased, while the preferences for the duration of rest in the forest have not changed. Still, the MPK forests are primarily a place of the weekend rest. The results indicate that the preferences of recreational users of the forest are largely related to the scope of access to and management of the forest., Sylwan 161 (5): 422-429

Since many years much attention has been paid to the rationality of wood transportation criteria due to the realization of social objectives. Identification and elimination of unnecessary haulage can reduce the total cost of transport and contribute to reducing fuel consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and accident risk. This paper concerns decision support for the allocation of available wood as a lot of irrationality of the existing wood transport operations has been observed. The aim of the study was to develop and test the method of optimizing the allocation of wood available in forest districts for selected groups of customers from over the country, taking into account the criterion of export distance (geography of purchase). The scale of the effects of applying the proposed optimization method is also presented. Data on sales of medium size S2A Scots pine wood in 2015 was used. A model of a two−dimensional transport task was built in order to optimize wood allocation. The road distance between the points where the wood was loaded and the points where it is processed was determined using the transportation network and network analysis performed in ArcGIS software. Linear programming was used to develop a software to support the allocation of wood to a group of selected customers nationwide. It was assumed that the benefits of optimization would be shared by whole group and not just by each customer individually. Changing existing supply locations can significantly shorten the average transportation distances up to 31% for particular customers (tab. 2), while for the whole group of analysed customers the reduction amounted to 14%. As a result of the proposed method, the transportation work would be reduced by 65 mio m 3 , which would reduce the average distance of timber exports by 15 km. This allows shortening of over 174 thousand of truckloads. The savings from the shortage of truckloads will amount to over 1.1 mio l of diesel fuel, which is worth about 5 mio PLN (1.18 mio )., Sylwan 161 (10): 842-850