**3. Results**

In total, 1050 respondents age 18–65 years were recruited in the study. As the samples were proportionally drawn by population size per region and village, the proportions of the residential locations of our respondents were similar to the national statistics office [25].

#### *3.1. Forest Visitor General Characteristics*

Respondents to the survey were from different education levels and age groups, of people aged between 18 and 65 years (Table 1). Respondents at the elementary school level were mostly from the younger age group. The respondents' data on education levels were similar (*p* = 0.373) to those from the Czech statistics office in 2011. The proportion of Czech citizens who graduated from elementary, secondary school without official graduation, high school, and university level that were reported by the national statistics office were 17.2%, 33%, 27.1%, and 12.5%. [26].


**Table 1.** General characteristics of the respondents (N = 1050).

The majority of respondents reported that they visited the forests regularly (about 77.1%), 21.8% of them admitted they rarely went to a forested region (one or two times per year), and only 1.0% of them never visited the forest. Those who had never visited the forest came from lower education levels (three from elementary and eight persons from secondary school/vocational training), aged between 25–54 years.

When we used binomial groups of forest visitors (0 = frequently, 1 = never and one or two times per year) and correlated the groups with other characteristics of the respondents, we found that significantly more people visited forests regularly across the regions than those who never went or went once or twice per year (*p* = 0.048). However, 46.7% of respondents from secondary school/vocational training graduates were found to be in the group of never to rarely visiting the forest, which was significantly higher than other groups of education levels (*p* = 0.004). Binary logistic regression revealed

the predictor of secondary school/vocational training were about 1.6-fold more likely (95% confidence limit of 1.21–2.17) to rarely to never visit the forest (*p* = 0.001).

#### *3.2. Wood-Based Forest Products*

In total, 46.3% of respondents considered that wood is a better material for building construction than other non-wood materials. The reasons for selecting wood as a material used in building construction are presented in Figure 1. The major positive reasons were its short preparation and environmentally-friendly material, followed by it being an energy saver and having a reasonable price. In contrast, its short lifespan and non-fireproof material prevented respondents from selecting wood as a building material.

 : Reasons for selecting wood as a building material (n = 1050) 

 **:** Preferences of furniture material (n = 1050)

 **:** Type of wood preferences for source of energy (n = 450)

**Figure 1.** Reasons for selecting wood as a building materials (n = 1050), preferences of furniture material (n = 1050), and type of wood preferences for source of energy (n = 450).

Woods are the most preferred material for furniture over metal, glass, and plastic. As many as 96.3% of the respondents answered with a score of one (1) or two (2) for a preference of wood materials.

In total, 38.6% (n = 405) of the respondents were users of fireplaces, wood stoves/burners, or wood boilers. Firewood was the most favoured, while sawdust was the least preferred compared to other types of fuelwood (Figure 1).

#### *3.3. Selected Non-Wood Forest Products Utilization*

In this study we used the terminology of non-wood forest products based on the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) definition that excludes all woody raw materials [27]. Table 2 presents information about the NWFPs' utilization by the respondents and/or their family members. Mushrooms were the most favoured NWFPs (58.5% and 27.4% of the respondents certainly and rather used them, respectively), followed by forest berries. Forest herbs and flowers were among the least utilized NWFPs. The preferences were similar across age groups and education levels.


**Table 2.** Utilization of non-wood forest products.

In total, 46.7% of the respondents reported that they did not consume meat from game animals, followed by 18.6% and 21.4% of them, who consumed it less than two times and two to four times per year, respectively. A few of the respondents reported the frequent consumption of game animals of five to eleven times per year (7.1%), once a month (3.7%), and more than once a month (2.5%).

Among respondents who utilized NWFPs, gender played a role in their preferences. Female respondents utilized herbs (54.6%) and flowers (54.7%) significantly more than male respondents (45.4% and 45.3%, respectively). Additionally, more male respondents were engaged in the consumption of game animals. The younges<sup>t</sup> age group and elementary school graduates were major forest flower collectors for decoration.

#### *3.4. Sources of Information*

The main sources of information about forests were collected to identify the means of communication utilized by the respondents. We discovered that television (55%), followed by friends and families (39.6%), were the main sources of information. Online news (32.2%) was used as a source of information in almost the same proportion as social media (29.6%). Radio and printed media as two conventional sources of news were still used by 14.6% and 13.3% of people in the country, respectively. Out of 4.4% (n = 46) of respondents who reported gathering information about forests from other sources, almost half of them (n = 20) said they had gained it from their own experiences after visiting the forest, followed by seven respondents who had obtained it from an o fficial forestry website.

When correlating age and education level with source of information, the proportion of TV viewers (n = 578) was dominant across all age groups and education levels (Figure 2). The young age group of 18–24 years old, and respondents with a higher education level, were the major users of all of the provided sources of information.

Especially within older age groups of respondents, the preference for receiving information from TV was more than 60%. A high proportion of respondents of secondary school/vocational training were TV viewers (61.1%). The majority of respondents within the age group of 18–54 years utilized online news and social media as their primary sources of news. Among users, male respondents (56.5%) were online media readers (*p* = 0.012), while the women were social media users (55%, *p* = 0.018). Peer groups and families were considered an important source of information, especially within the age group of 18–24 years old. Although radio and printed media were at the bottom two of the sources, retired respondents still considered radio as an important information provider.

**Figure 2.** Sources of information based on age group and education level.
