Recreational wild berry picking in Finland - reflection of a rural lifestyle

Abstract

Picking wild berries, which has long been the most popular consumptive outdoor recreation activity in the Nordic countries, has shown indications of declining. In Finland, over half of the population still participates in berry picking, and picking wild berries is generally considered to have cultural and economic importance. Recreational berry picking is based on the Nordic everyman's right, which is the right of open access to all forests for purposes such as picking wild berries and mushrooms, regardless of land ownership. Using logistic regression and negative binomial regression models, this study analyzes those characteristics of a representative Finnish sample that affect not only berry picking in general but also frequency of berry picking. The results of this analysis indicate that the activity of picking wild berries is linked to a rural lifestyle, particularly to the lifestyle of older generations and the use of summer cottage. Author Keywords: consumptive outdoor recreation; generational differences; lifestyle; logistic regression; negative binomial regression; participation; wild berry picking