Særskilt vern av friluftsområder i Oslomarka etter ... - NINA

NINA Rapport 664
Abstract
Gundersen, V., Skår, M., Tangeland, T. & Vistad, O. I. 2011. Protection of recreational areas in
Oslomarka in accordance with markaloven § 11 – Review, criteria and inventory method. -
NINA Rapport 664.78 p.
The Governor of Oslo and Akershus Counties commissioned this draft for the methodology to
be used to identify and register recreation areas in the Oslo area that would be eligible for special
protection in accordance with § 11 of Markaloven (Law regarding undeveloped lands). The
preparatory work for Markaloven (specifically Proposition. No. 23, 2008-2009) forms the
framework for what attributes protected areas should feature regarding the quality of a visitor’s
experience there, as well as area’s accessibility and actual use. We use different approaches
to illustrate this, with the understanding that the methodology used to identify areas must be
both documented and verifiable.
Three main criteria for protected lands are specified by § 11 of Markaloven: 1) elements of a
visitor’s experience, 2) design of a visitor’s experience, and 3) accessibility and actual use. The
“elements of a visitor’s experience” describe the contents of the forests and surrounding landscape,
including temporary structural elements (forest elements) and more permanent landscape
or terrain-related elements (landscape elements). The “design of a visitor’s experience”
describes the overall experience one might expect to have by visiting this kind of forest
areas. Finally, forest areas eligible for protection must be put into a context of accessibility and
actual use.
The main criterion for registration is mature forests (cutting class V). Areas eligible for protection
can be identified either randomly or systematically. With a random method based on voluntary
reporting, authorities must provide a precise description of what areas would be eligible
and invite all interested parties to submit candidate sites. We suggest a systematic method,
with each candidate site divided into 1 hectare (1 ha = 10000 m²) quadrants. Consideration for
protection would be based on the presence or absence of 7 forest and 7 landscape elements
within each quadrant. This method also gives a precise description of how elements are distributed
in the area. We further suggest using five criteria for dimensions of visitor’s experience
are assessed at the site level, each scored on a scale of 1 to 3. An overall value for site quality
would be calculated from a combination of forest/landscape element scores (average value for
all quadrants at a site) and the sum of a site’s scores for dimensions of a visitor’s experience—
with forest elements, landscape elements and dimensions of a visitor’s experience equally
weighted in a site’s final score, 1/3 each.
Finally, we propose three indicators to assess an area's accessibility and use. Sites should not
be classified with either “good” or “bad” availability, since such designations would not be particularly
useful in future protection processes. However, we want to emphasize that these sites
are outdoor areas where the use and experience will be key. Thus, one should also carefully
consider making small accommodations to visitors in such forms as simple walking paths,
since most people appreciate this.
After protection is granted, plans should be developed that specify a site’s needs for management
and facilitation. To insure that character of protected areas will not change significantly,
we suggest that the areas remain free of harvest and development. Such a natural succession
strategy would still require management of the area’s habitats that depend on maintenance of
a cultural landscape, as well as management of forests along major routes. Management
should, on a general basis, be simple. Furthermore, management, facilitation and promotion of
designated areas can be better developed once the areas’ protection is implemented.
Gundersen, V., Skår, M., Tangeland, T. & Vistad, O. I. 2011. Fakkelgården, 2426 Lillehammer.
vegard.gundersen@nina.no
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