This evidence review forms part of Work Package 3 under the project ‘Understanding, enabling, and supporting public access to woodlands’ (ETPP-07) funded by Defra’s Nature for Climate Fund and delivered by Forest Research. In line with the work package’s focus on diverse and under-represented groups in woodland access, the review summarises the available economic literature on barriers and enabling factors affecting the ability of specific publics to access woodlands.

Key research gaps are highlighted in order to help orient the future focus and aims of the project. In particular, distance to woodland, income, socioeconomic variables, health and disability are analysed as factors affecting individuals’ frequency of visits to woodlands and willingness to pay (WTP) for woodland recreation. Where they exist, economic evaluations of interventions to overcome such barriers (usually health barriers) are likewise incorporated into the review. The review addresses the following research questions:

• What are the economic, socio-demographic and health barriers to publics accessing woodlands?
• What are the effects of these barriers on how often diverse groups visit woodlands and on their WTP for woodland recreation?
• What is the economic value (and cost-effectiveness) of interventions seeking to overcome such barriers and encourage access to woodlands among specific groups?