Glen Hvenegaard

This report details the results of an empirical study that examined perceived health and well-being motives and benefits among visitors to a sample of Alberta’s parks and protected areas. The study revealed several major findings with important policy and management implications. First, the human health and well-being benefits that the visitors expected to receive from visits were perceived to be a major personal motivation in the choice to visit Alberta protected areas. The most important motivation factors identified by respondents were psychological and emotional well-being (89.1% of visitors ranked this important), social well-being (88.3%), physical well-being (80.3%), and environmental well-being (79.4%). Second, the perceived benefits that visitors received from their protected areas experiences were substantial. The most frequently reported improvements were related to psychological and emotional (90.5%), social (85%), and physical well-being (77.6%). Interestingly, women pe...

Urban sprawl is a major driving force of land use change. To develop strategies for sustainable urban development, planners need suitable indicators, one of which is the quality and quantity of green spaces in a city. To implement conservation strategies for urban areas, an assessment of how people perceive green spaces is required. The aim of this paper is to analyze: (1) willingness to contribute financially to two types of urban green spaces, (2) how people’s attitudinal and socio-economic characteristics affect this willingness, and (3) to what extent this willingness is affected
by the information that green spaces are important for avifauna onservation. We found that 72% of the respondents in Montpellier, France preferred natural (versus ornamental) green spaces and wanted them to be increased in the city. To achieve this, 52% of the respondents were willing to pay a percentage of their monthly household income. Giving information about birds to residents increased their preferences (especially for those having a ‘‘favourable’’ attitude for urban fauna) for ‘‘natural’’ green spaces and increased willingness to pay for green spaces among people using green
spaces at least monthly. For people less concerned about nature, there was such effect of providing bird information on preferences for green spaces.

A Preliminary Synthesis –September 2008. by. Yolanda Wiersma, Project PI (Memorial University) ywiersma@mun.ca. ... Cumming SG, Burton PJ, Klinkenberg B. 1996. Boreal mixedwood forsts may have no “representative” areas: some implications for reserve design. ...