Scenic qualities of suburban forests of Rzeszów from the viewpoint of designing areas for leisure

The study focuses on assessing scenic qualities of the suburban forests of Rzeszów for the needs of use for recreation. Valorisation of the forest landscape has been performed from the perspective of inner tree stands. The applied method involves assessment of such features of tree stands as: age, moisture of habitat, terrain inclination, quality classification, species composition of the tree layer, floor structure of the stands, soil cover, colour, heterogeneity, identified mainly as the type of mixture of species and level of stand density. The study was designed to valorise the landscape of suburban forests of Rzeszów, for the needs of recreation, located at a distance up to 10 km from the administrative borders of the city, and administered by the “State Forests” National Forest Holding. The assessment was performed for the total of 379 forest units, jointly comprising an area of 9261 ha, and administered by four forest districts: Strzyżów, Kańczuga, Głogów and Leżajsk. The suburban forests of Rzeszów are found with high (57%) or moderate (41%) scenic qualities. Majority of the forests with the highest scenic qualities are located south of Rzeszów, in areas with varied terrain, which additionally enhances these scenic qualities and encourages for active leisure. Large proportion of stands representing older age classes, diverse species composition, herbaceous ground cover, and good visibility inside the forest, these are qualities which attract visitors and inspire them to contemplate the nature within the forest landscapes. Additionally, these features contribute to the usefulness of the forests for popular recreation activities, such as: hiking, Nordic walking, running.