Many people have a fear of woods. These feelings include:
- Fear of being attacked. This fear is strongest among women, and is the main reason why many women would not consider going alone into a wooded area. It also affects the freedom allowed to children to play in and around woodlands.
- Fear of woodlands providing cover for unsocial or criminal behaviour. Residents may not welcome plans to plant woodlands in the vicinity of their homes, because of the fear of it attracting unsavoury or criminal behaviour.
- Fear of getting lost. This is not just a fear of not being able to find the way out of the wood, but also that help would not be accessible in the case of an accident or injury.
The intrinsic quality of a wood is such that it is impossible to design away the features that make it frightening to some people. These include undergrowth, limited sightlines and low levels of light. The only way to make woods feel safe to people who fear them is to make sure there are plenty of other people around. People do not fear a crowd, or not often a group, but they do fear meeting a ‘loner ’.
Some people’s enjoyment of a wood is spoiled by the presence of too many other people, and wildlife suffers if there is frequent disturbance. large woods can be zoned into quiet and busy areas, by the way access is laid out, by the provision of picnic areas, play equipment and so on, and by management of the understorey. In some cases the wood may provide the setting in which activities take place, such as playtrails, cycling or fishing. On the larger scale, most people want to live and work in attractive wooded landscapes, but not to feel enclosed by trees. The Community Forests are aiming for 30% woodland cover.
Peopling a wood
- If possible, site new woodland planting where there is already a well-established access route, such as a footpath, cycle-track, well-used short cut or other route, which will automatically bring people into the wooded area. Consultation will be needed, together with the application of some of the design guidelines below, so that existing patterns of use are not discouraged.
- Work in the wood as much as possible, for example coppicing, planting, footpath work or mowing glades.
- Organise guided walks, woodland days, children’s activities, treasure hunts, orienteering, birdwatching and other events. For children, the sort of activities that used to happen informally can be the easiest and most successful, such as building dens, damming streams, having bonfires or laying trails.
- Encourage responsible dog walkers, by providing parking, signs, dog toilet areas or dog bins. Regular dog walkers are amongst the highest users of open spaces near residential areas, and in the main, help reassure other users.
- Encourage joggers, by providing circular routes with good surfacing.
- Provide free parking.
Design guidelines
- Car parks should have a straightforward layout, rather than a design with bays hidden by shrubs, where theft or mugging can occur unseen. Clear undergrowth from the edges, and preferably make car parks easily visible from the road.
- Make access inviting at the edges, so there are lots of easy routes into the wood from around its edges. Generally make the edges open, with glades, well- spaced trees and a lack of undergrowth, although this will lessen the value of the edges for wildlife, and decrease their shelter value.
- Provide clear, wide, well-surfaced main paths through the woodland. Use will then be concentrated along these routes, which will help create feelings of safety in numbers. Other paths can be provided for the more adventurous.
- Provide long sightlines along the main paths, by making long, generally straight or gently curving sections. Make junctions wide and open.
- Provide wide grassy margins to the paths, with no undergrowth. Remove the understorey from the adjacent edges of the wood.
- Site open areas for picnics and play near to car-parks, access points, visitor centres and buildings, so users feel there is help or supervision nearby.
- Provide clear signs, giving distances to destinations or exit points from the wood. These should be multi-lingual as appropriate to the area.
- Do not purposely block views of buildings and roads with planting, as woodland users may prefer to stay within sight of other people. Tall buildings, pylons and chimneys can act as useful reference points against getting lost. Designers may prefer to create the illusion of wilderness and isolation, but visitors may prefer the opposite.
- Provide maps of the wood which show access routes, distances, picnic areas and different zones as appropriate. It is important to show the wood in relation to the surrounding area, and not in isolation. As in the point above, feelings of safety will be encouraged if people know the various exit routes from the wood, and any links to roads, housing, shops and other familiar places.
- Remove all signs of social disorder, such as graffiti, rubbish or abandoned cars.
- Upgrade the general appearance of the wood. This includes keeping fences, paths, seats and other built features in good order. It may also mean removal of scrub, mowing of grass and other actions which may have some adverse effects for wildlife, but which will help attract more people into the wood.
For further details, see Growing in Confidence – understanding people’s perceptions of urban fringe woodlands (Countryside Commission 1995).
