Introduction Vital to forest management, forest roads enable operations such as timber harvesting, fire protection, and recreational access. However, their functionality is threatened by insufficient maintenance driven by limited financial and human resources, and constraints related to the availability and quality of information, as well as suitable tools for systematic condition assessment. Traditional visual inspections are widely used in Germany but are subjective, inconsistent, and difficult to scale. This study examines stakeholder perspectives on implementing a digital forest road condition monitoring system to support predictive maintenance approaches. Methods To evaluate the feasibility and stakeholder acceptance, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 representatives from five stakeholder categories across Germany. Thematic content analysis was applied to assess current maintenance practices, data needs, technical and legal constraints, and the stakeholders’ willingness to contribute across stages of the system (data collection, processing, provision, and use). Results Stakeholders broadly recognized the potential value of digital forest road condition data for planning maintenance, estimating costs, and improving navigation. However, adoption is constrained by limited digital competence and staffing, financial barriers, data protection and access-right concerns, and coordination challenges associated with fragmented forest ownership. Participants emphasized the need for reliable, standardized, and user-friendly solutions, and highlighted that long-term implementation depends on viable business model configurations (e.g., subscription or pay-per-use access models and remuneration schemes for data collection, such as flat rate) spanning multiple stakeholders. Discussion By aligning stakeholder interests and addressing legal, technical, and financial barriers, such configurations can enable the long-term operability of digital forest roads monitoring systems. These findings provide a qualitative foundation for developing scalable implementation concepts and business model configurations for digital forest road monitoring that are transferable beyond the German context.
Miguel-Díez et al. (Fri,) studied this question.