Conoscenza e percezione forestale. Un’indagine preliminare sulla popolazione del Veneto

While Italy and Veneto have experienced forest expansion in the last decades and despite a growing demand for services delivered by forests, the forest sector remains isolated and largely unknown by non-experts at both national and regional scale. The paper presents the main findings of a survey aiming to investigate knowledge and perception of relevant forest-related topics by Veneto population. Results show some familiarity with non-technical issues (e.g. forest certification) and lower one with silviculture and forest management topics. Knowledge and perception levels vary according to age classes and place of residence (e.g. mountain vs. cities). Further efforts should be put in place to fill the communication gap between the forest sector sensu strictu and the public at large.