Forest communication: are we doing right? An online survey on public knowledge and perception of forests and forestry terminology in Italy

Over the last decades the views and demands on forests by society have dramatically changed and concerns on how people perceive forests and forestry, as well as how to find appropriate communication tools have raised. As many other Western European countries Italy has experienced an increase in forest areas: over the last 50 years forest cover has doubled, reaching about 35% of the Country. Forest expansion is among the most relevant land use changes undergoing at national scale, mostly as a consequence of farmland abandonment and natural forest growth. Meanwhile forestry issues remain mostly within the domain of specialized/technical bodies -both private and public ones- and limited information is made easily accessible and communicated to society at large. Building on these considerations, the research aims to investigate public knowledge and perception of the forest sector in Italy to gather information on how communication on the role of forests may be improved. An online survey has been conducted in North-Eastern Italy to collect information on people's knowledge and perception of a broad range of forest-related aspects, including general knowledge of basic forest figures/data, familiarity with forestry terminology as well as issues like forest certification and recent developments in forest policy. Two-stage sampling has been adopted, with a stratification at first stage into mountain, lowland rural and urban population. Once finished with the survey, respondents were given access to correct answers and additional information. Preliminary results indicate that, on average, people have limited familiarity with forestry issues and tend to underestimate the quantitative and qualitative relevance of both national and local forest resources. Findings also show some distorted perceptions -for example on extent and trends in forest cover- thus confirming the need to take action and fill the gap between public understanding and reality.