From the inside out to the outside in: Exploring the role of parks and protected areas as providers of human health and well-being

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 70-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesc Romagosa ◽  
Paul F.J. Eagles ◽  
Christopher J. Lemieux
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Parks And Protected Areas ◽  
Inside Out ◽  
Health And Well Being

scholarly journals The Role of Tourism Impacts on Cultural Ecosystem Services

Environments ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taff ◽  
Benfield ◽  
Miller ◽  
D'Antonio ◽  
Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Services ◽  
Tourism Impacts ◽  
Parks And Protected Areas ◽  
Health And Well Being

Parks and protected areas are recognized for the important ecosystem services, or benefits, they provide society. One emerging but understudied component is the cultural ecosystem services that parks and protected areas provide. These cultural ecosystem services include a variety of benefits, such as cultural heritage, spiritual value, recreation opportunities, and human health and well-being. However, many of these services can only be provided if people visit these parks and protected areas through tourism opportunities. However, with this tourism use comes a variety of inevitable resource impacts. This current research connects potential impacts from tourism in parks and protected areas to the health and well-being aspect of cultural ecosystem services. We used an MTurk sample to record affective responses across a range of resource conditions. Results demonstrate that as tourism-related ecological impacts increased, positive affect decreased. Decreases in positive affect were more severe for park and protected area scenes featuring informal and/or undesignated social trails when compared to scenes with increasing levels of trampling/vegetation loss. Collectively, the results show that managing tourism in parks and protected areas in a manner that reduces impact is essential to providing beneficial cultural ecosystem services related to human health and well-being.

scholarly journals Benefits of viewing nature: a review of landscape health research

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiawei Lin
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Important Research ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Reducing Stress ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Outcome Of Surgery

Nowadays, several studies demonstrate that viewing nature has positive effects on human health and well-being. This essay discusses about the essential methods of viewing natural environment and their impacts on human well-being by clarifying four important theoretical models: reducing stress, lowering heart rate, improving outcome of surgery, and increasing attention. In addition, some important research results in this field are taken as examples to introduce research methods. By collecting and organizing existing studies and theories about the relationship between viewing nature and human well-being, the methods of viewing nature can be divided into two parts: viewing nature through specific media (e.g., through a window, a book, a painting or a videotape) and being with the presence of nature. This study aims to clarify the research significance of viewing nature and find deficiency in this field to maximize the role of landscapes in human health and well-being. 

scholarly journals The phantom chorus: birdsong boosts human well-being in protected areas

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1941) ◽  
pp. 20201811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle M. Ferraro ◽  
Zachary D. Miller ◽  
Lauren A. Ferguson ◽  
B. Derrick Taff ◽  
Jesse R. Barber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Other ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Ambient Conditions ◽  
Sensory Modalities ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Avian Biodiversity ◽  
Health And Well Being

Spending time in nature is known to benefit human health and well-being, but evidence is mixed as to whether biodiversity or perceptions of biodiversity contribute to these benefits. Perhaps more importantly, little is known about the sensory modalities by which humans perceive biodiversity and obtain benefits from their interactions with nature. Here, we used a ‘phantom birdsong chorus' consisting of hidden speakers to experimentally increase audible birdsong biodiversity during ‘on' and ‘off' (i.e. ambient conditions) blocks on two trails to study the role of audition in biodiversity perception and self-reported well-being among hikers. Hikers exposed to the phantom chorus reported higher levels of restorative effects compared to those that experienced ambient conditions on both trails; however, increased restorative effects were directly linked to the phantom chorus on one trail and indirectly linked to the phantom chorus on the other trail through perceptions of avian biodiversity. Our findings add to a growing body of evidence linking mental health to nature experiences and suggest that audition is an important modality by which natural environments confer restorative effects. Finally, our results suggest that maintaining or improving natural soundscapes within protected areas may be an important component to maximizing human experiences.

Gender Equity and the SDGs

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Dettori ◽  
Geeta Rao Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equity ◽  
Adolescent Girls ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Partnership ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
Health And Well Being

This chapter identifies some of the most stubborn gender-based risks and vulnerabilities girls face as a cohort from preadolescence through late adolescence across the domains of personal capabilities, security, safety, economic resources, and opportunities. It reviews progress made during the Millennium Development Goal era in improving girls’ health and well-being and looks to the role of adolescent girls in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. The chapter concludes by recommending an approach for global partnership that is linked to national and local actions and that is centered on priority interventions that can catalyze change, at scale, for adolescent girls.

scholarly journals Evidence-Based Landscape Architecture for Human Health and Well-Being

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Brown ◽  
Robert C. Corry
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Landscape Architecture ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
The People ◽  
Outdoor Environments ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Health And Well Being

More than 80% of the people in the USA and Canada live in cities. Urban development replaces natural environments with built environments resulting in limited access to outdoor environments which are critical to human health and well-being. In addition, many urban open spaces are unused because of poor design. This paper describes case studies where traditional landscape architectural design approaches would have compromised design success, while evidence-based landscape architecture (EBLA) resulted in a successful product. Examples range from school-yard design that provides safe levels of solar radiation for children, to neighborhood parks and sidewalks that encourage people to walk and enjoy nearby nature. Common characteristics for integrating EBLA into private, public, and academic landscape architecture practice are outlined along with a discussion of some of the opportunities and barriers to implementation.

scholarly journals Study design, rationale and methods of the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) study: a cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate environmental and human health impacts of a water-sensitive intervention in informal settlements in Indonesia and Fiji

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e042850
Author(s):  
Karin Leder ◽  
John J Openshaw ◽  
Pascale Allotey ◽  
Ansariadi Ansariadi ◽  
S Fiona Barker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomised Controlled Trial ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cluster Randomised ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Randomised Controlled ◽  
Health And Well Being

IntroductionIncreasing urban populations have led to the growth of informal settlements, with contaminated environments linked to poor human health through a range of interlinked pathways. Here, we describe the design and methods for the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) study, a transdisciplinary randomised trial evaluating impacts of an intervention to upgrade urban informal settlements in two Asia-Pacific countries.Methods and analysisRISE is a cluster randomised controlled trial among 12 settlements in Makassar, Indonesia, and 12 in Suva, Fiji. Six settlements in each country have been randomised to receive the intervention at the outset; the remainder will serve as controls and be offered intervention delivery after trial completion. The intervention involves a water-sensitive approach, delivering site-specific, modular, decentralised infrastructure primarily aimed at improving health by decreasing exposure to environmental faecal contamination. Consenting households within each informal settlement site have been enrolled, with longitudinal assessment to involve health and well-being surveys, and human and environmental sampling. Primary outcomes will be evaluated in children under 5 years of age and include prevalence and diversity of gastrointestinal pathogens, abundance and diversity of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes in gastrointestinal microorganisms and markers of gastrointestinal inflammation. Diverse secondary outcomes include changes in microbial contamination; abundance and diversity of pathogens and AMR genes in environmental samples; impacts on ecological biodiversity and microclimates; mosquito vector abundance; anthropometric assessments, nutrition markers and systemic inflammation in children; caregiver-reported and self-reported health symptoms and healthcare utilisation; and measures of individual and community psychological, emotional and economic well-being. The study aims to provide proof-of-concept evidence to inform policies on upgrading of informal settlements to improve environments and human health and well-being.EthicsStudy protocols have been approved by ethics boards at Monash University, Fiji National University and Hasanuddin University.Trial registration numberACTRN12618000633280; Pre-results.

scholarly journals Biodiversity and Health in the Urban Environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa R. Marselle ◽  
Sarah J. Lindley ◽  
Penny A. Cook ◽  
Aletta Bonn
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Causal Pathways ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract Purpose of review Biodiversity underpins urban ecosystem functions that are essential for human health and well-being. Understanding how biodiversity relates to human health is a developing frontier for science, policy and practice. This article describes the beneficial, as well as harmful, aspects of biodiversity to human health in urban environments. Recent findings Recent research shows that contact with biodiversity of natural environments within towns and cities can be both positive and negative to human physical, mental and social health and well-being. For example, while viruses or pollen can be seriously harmful to human health, biodiverse ecosystems can promote positive health and well-being. On balance, these influences are positive. As biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, research suggests that its loss could threaten the quality of life of all humans. Summary A key research gap is to understand—and evidence—the specific causal pathways through which biodiversity affects human health. A mechanistic understanding of pathways linking biodiversity to human health can facilitate the application of nature-based solutions in public health and influence policy. Research integration as well as cross-sector urban policy and planning development should harness opportunities to better identify linkages between biodiversity, climate and human health. Given its importance for human health, urban biodiversity conservation should be considered as public health investment.

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