For the Love of Nature: Exploring the Importance of Species Diversity and Micro-Variables Associated with Favorite Outdoor Places

Abstract

Although the restorative benefits of nature are widely acknowledged, there is a limited understanding of the attributes of natural environments that are fundamental to restorative experiences. Faced with growing human populations and a greater awareness of the wellbeing benefits natural environments provide, park agencies and planners are increasingly challenged with balancing human and ecological outcomes in natural areas. This study examines the physical and experiential qualities of natural environments people referred to when describing their connection to their most valued natural environments in an online questionnaire. Recruited primarily via a public radio program, respondents were asked to identify their favorite places and explain what they loved about those places. Favorite places are considered exemplars of restorative environments and were classified based on an existing park typology. Reasons people liked particular sites were classified into three domains: setting, activity, or benefit. Content analysis was used to identify the attributes most commonly associated with favorite places. These attributes were then related to the four components of restorative environments according to Attention Restoration Theory. In contrast to previous research, we found that “fascination” was the most important component of favorite places. Possible reasons for this contrast, namely, respondents' median age, and the likelihood of a high degree of ecological literacy amongst the study population are discussed. South Australians' favorite environments comprise primarily hilly, wooded nature parks, and botanical gardens, in stark contrast to the vast arid areas that dominate the state. Micro-variables such as birds, plants, wildlife, native species, and biodiversity appear particularly important elements used to explain people's love of these sites. We discuss the implications of these findings and their potential value as an anchor for marketing campaigns seeking to encourage contact with nature, as well as education programs designed to improve people's understanding of important but intangible concepts such as biodiversity. The findings have clear, practical implications for park managers given the modifiable nature of many of the attributes identified as being most important to our respondents, and we believe attention to such elements has the potential to simultaneously enhance people's nature experiences, optimize restorative outcomes, and improve environmental stewardship.

The Wellbeing Benefits Associated with Perceived and Measured Biodiversity in Australian Urban Green Spaces

“…Different types of urban green spaces, such as sports parks and community parks, are known to facilitate different types of wellbeing benefits amongst park visitors [16,17]. Furthermore, those different types of green spaces vary in size and shape [16] and differ in the ways they are both perceived and valued by the public [17].…”

A walk on the wild side: How interactions with non‐companion animals might help reduce human stress

“…It is possible that this aspect of feeling privileged at sighting an animal in a natural environment (or, as in this study, a semi‐natural environment where sighting is not guaranteed) may provide additional possibilities for distraction from inner feelings of distress (Curtin, ; Wells & Evans, ). Some qualitative research in the field has begun to unpick this particular question, finding elements of fascination seeming to be highly important, along with biodiversity (Schebella, Weber, Lindsey, & Daniels, ). This is particularly interesting given the recent focus of social prescribing in primary care, where ‘nature’ or natural experiences can be prescribed to help improve well‐being in patients with challenging health problems.…”

Key Aspects of Leisure Experiences in Protected Wilderness Areas: Notions of Nature, Senses of Place and Perceived Benefits

“…This increase coincides with a growing interest in the quality of such spaces [30] and their incidence in the perception of their benefits [1,31]. Quality refers to the biological attributes of spaces: the presence of wildlife, biodiversity of the area, scenic beauty or pristine condition [15,32,33]. Some studies suggest that these attributes especially favor mental health through the perception of psychological benefits [34].…”

“…The natural places most frequently identified in the literature as special include bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, waterfalls, and oceans [15], forests [34], and other spaces, such as mountain peaks [32]. Certain places are also considered special because of the biodiversity they contain.…”