Calculating and Mapping the Naturalness of Peri-Urban Greenways

Abstract

Peri-urban forests often have extensive greenway networks that allow for outdoor recreation. However, information associated with these greenways often does not include their degree of naturalness, which is usually reduced to descriptions of the flora and fauna and often overlooks the factors that reduce naturalness. Therefore, in some cases, the naturalness of these greenways is lower than expected. Quantifying their naturalness would be helpful, especially for hikers interested in appreciating and enjoying nature. Additionally, this information would help outdoor recreation managers to design trails or decide which ones to promote as “greenways”. The objectives of this study are (1) to design a method to calculate and map the naturalness of greenways using two approaches, one based on perceptual fieldwork and the other on geographic information systems (GIS); (2) to apply the designed method to a specific greenway; and (3) to compare both methodological approaches. The results show that, for the greenway studied, the naturalness scores obtained are low in all three types of analyses used. Around 70% of the greenway sections in the GIS visibility analysis and 80% in the GIS proximity analysis have a low naturalness index. In comparison, this value is reduced to 40% with the fieldwork analysis. Although the results of the GIS approach (proximity and visibility) generate naturalness indices and spatial patterns that are very similar, they differ significantly from those derived from the fieldwork analysis. The discussion of the results suggests that the three methodologies used are valid for analyzing the degree of naturalness of the trails. However, if used together, it could add flexibility to the type of variables incorporated in the analysis.