The reality of imagination: Integrating the material and cultural values of old forests

Abstract

The material benefits of forests - for example, the production of wood and environmental services - are often characterised as tangible, or 'real'. In contrast, the cultural and spiritual significance of forests for people is often characterised as intangible, or 'imagined'. Old forests are particularly valued for both their 'real' and 'imagined' values. In contemporary Western societies, the distinction between these values for old forests is frequently strongly drawn, and the two sets of values are generally represented as largely incompatible. We draw from empirical and psychological research to suggest that such a division between the 'real' and 'imagined' values of old forests is less c..