In study, we examined the number and dynamics of visits to urban forests (UF) in Ljubljana, on the examples of Rožnik and Golovec, during the COVID-19 epidemic and compare it with post-epidemic visits. We focused on the importance and perception of UF during the epidemic and identified problematic areas where increased visitation is undesirable due to higher natural vulnerability. To this end, we conducted a field and online survey and analyzed data from four automatic monitoring stations in KP TRŠH and on Golovec that track passage rates. We found that visits to UF in Ljubljana increased during the epidemic, which was confirmed by both the survey results and the monitoring station analysis. The highest increase in visits was observed on Golovec. The surveys showed that people visited UF during hours they had not before the epidemic, but this was not confirmed by the analysis of monitoring station data. Visits to UF in 2020 were more significant in the morning and afternoon, compared to 2021–2023, when visits were more evenly distributed throughout the day. Most respondents reported visiting new forest areas during the epidemic. We identified two monitoring sites with larger passage rates as problematic due to natural vulnerability. With the help of the UF visit analysis, we aim to gain insights into better adapting the city's green infrastructure to the needs of residents during crisis times, such as the epidemic.
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