Das Projekt "Entwicklung von Indikatoren und Datenerfassungsmethoden zwecks Feststellung der Nutzungseffektivität der Erholungseinrichtungen in Waldgebieten der Staatlichen Forste" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, Institut für Landschaftsentwicklung, Erholungs- und Naturschutzplanung (ILEN) durchgeführt. Forests play an important role in environmental functions which are crucial for human wellbeing. Recently, also the meaning of social functions of forests is being increasingly acknowledged. The State Forests in Poland allocate significant part of their resources to provide new tourist infrastructure and maintain the existing one. In order to successfully manage forest areas and to gain realistic view on actual visitation levels and use of touristic objects managed by the State Forests, it is necessary to find reliable and effective tools and methods for visitor data collection and data analysis. From the management perspective definition of indicators and standard tools that could assist management of tourism and recreation in the forests is particularly important. The objective of the proposed project is to create the list of indicators and to define reliable tools that can be utilized for measuring the usage effectiveness of recreation and tourist infrastructure. The infrastructure to be investigated comprises loging objects (e.g. hunters huts, recreational and educational centers) and non-lodging objects (e.g. recreational trails, parking lots).