Urbanisation and globalised environmental discourse do not help to protect the bio-cultural legacy of rural landscapes

Between Pocket Forest Wilderness and Restored Rural Arcadia: Optimizing the Use of a Feral Woodland Enclave in Urban Environment

“…Although numerous visitors declare their preference of a "dense forest following the course of nature", still more opt for an "open landscape with visible topography and groups of notable trees" (Table 2, Figure 8). Interestingly, according to the recent internet survey on Lisia Góra, the "non-intervention" scenario was slightly more preferred than the "semi-open wood-pasture" [25]. That difference between the findings may be a derivative of the methodological differences, such as the direct interview with visitors in the field in the present study vs. self-service survey dealt with by accidental respondents involving fewer Lisia Góra visitors.…”

“…We hypothesize that the dendroecological evidence will confirm the cartographic data, implying the non-forest past of Lisia Góra [25]. If this turned true, the oldest reserve's oaks would be the remnants of a non-forest "oakscape" (sensu [26]), a typical wooded fabric of historic traditional farmland, the most valuable and the most vulnerable component of the reserve.…”

“…As indicated in another study [25], the commonly (and falsely) assumed baseline for the Lisia Góra reserve is an "ancient forest". With the superficial stereotypical vision of an "ancient forest" as a woodland with old trees, dense undergrowth, and large quantity of dead wood, in the coming decades, Lisia Góra, for unskilled observers, may increasingly evoke its idealistic "baseline".…”

“…The authors argued that abstract environmental constructs might underlie biased judgements of urban communities, particularly prone to the effects of a cultural alienation from tangible nature. With the generally low level of natural knowledge, the urbanites' appreciation of nature depends either on their immediate aesthetic perception, or on an induced external narrative rather than on a true experience of human-nature interactions, translating into uncodified "traditional ecological knowledge" [25,54].…”

“…Our study was focused on a relatively small (8 ha) "Lisia Góra" dense forest reserve, perhaps the most popular piece of the green infrastructure close to Reszów's centre. The principal reserve's objective has been the conservation of the "oaks' old-growth", commonly considered as a "remnant" of an "ancient forest" [25]. Considering the ecological present and past of the reserve, we wonder whether the applied form of protection leads to its intended purpose.…”