Abstract

Forests are increasingly recognized not only for their ecological and productive roles but also for their social, cultural, and psychological importance. In Italy, the last national-scale assessment of public perceptions of forests was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving open questions about how citizens currently perceive forests, their functions, and their value for everyday life. Building on previous national evidence, this study provides an updated overview of Italians’ perceptions of forests in a post-pandemic context. A national online survey was conducted between May and July 2025 with a large, geographically diverse sample of Italian adults (n = 2.193), covering all 20 regions and five macro-areas. The questionnaire assessed perceptions of forest cover, the importance attributed to environmental issues and forest ecosystem services, perceived threats to forests, emotional responses to familiar and unfamiliar forest environments, post-pandemic need for nature, forest visitation frequency, and information needs and sources. Results indicate that Italians attribute high importance to forests for biodiversity conservation, climate regulation, hydrogeological protection, and human well-being, with non-material and regulatory services consistently rated higher than strictly productive ones. Participants showed a marked tendency to overestimate forest cover, replicating patterns observed in pre-pandemic studies. Forests were widely perceived as threatened by multiple pressures, particularly wildfires, climate change, illegal activities, and drought, with both nationally shared concerns and region-specific differences. Emotional responses to forest environments were predominantly positive, with high levels of interest, enthusiasm, and inspiration and very low levels of fear, even in unfamiliar forests. The post-pandemic need for nature emerged as a salient dimension across the country, with only modest geographical variation. Information demand was substantial, especially regarding biodiversity, health-related benefits, and forest management, and respondents primarily relied on institutional and science-based sources. Overall, the findings highlight a strong and multifaceted public engagement with forests in Italy, combining cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions. By updating pre-pandemic evidence and incorporating emotional and experiential aspects at a national scale, this study provides insights relevant for forest communication, governance, and the integration of social values into sustainable forest management strategies.

  Keywords

Forests, Urban Forest, Forest Access, Ecosystem Services, Public Perception

Authors’ Info

Paper Info

Citation

Clemente D, Brunori A, Carrus G, Spano G, Panno A, Sanesi G (2026). Public perceptions of forests in Italy: ecosystem services, emotional meanings, and post-pandemic needs. iForest 19: 130-140. - doi: 10.3832/ifor5149-019

Academic Editor

Marco Borghetti

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© SISEF - The Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology 2026

  Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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