There is nothing quite like the majesty of a mountain vista, or the stretch of the milky way in a pitch night sky to remind you everything’s not so bad.
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To feel the weight of the world slip off your shoulders as you breathe crystal air, with nothing but the sound of the wind and the birds in your ears.
Monday marks one hundred years since the declaration of Tasmania’s national parks, which have long been recognised for their environmental benefits. But it is emerging there are many more ways in which parks are valuable; economically, socially and personally.
“Parks provide so many vast benefits to Tasmania and the Tasmanian community and it’s not just the environmental benefits that our reserves get a lot of recognition for. It’s also the social and community benefits our parks provide as well as the economic benefits,” Parks and Wildlife Community Engagement and Partnerships Officer Sam Cuff said.
Environmental
National parks play a key role in the ecological health and protection of Tasmania’s unique flora and fauna. This is evident in the fact six of Tasmania’s national parks are also recognised World Heritage sites, protected for their conservation values.
“They are an enormous resource environmentally because they maintain ... the species diversity, which is important for maintaining a state of balance in our environment,” Deakin University Honorary Associate Professor Mardie Townsend said.
National parks are also becoming increasingly important as carbon reserves, with climate change a key issue for the future.
The value in preserving these unique species and landscapes goes beyond just their environmental value, however.
Parks provide so many vast benefits to Tasmania and the Tasmanian community and it’s not just the environmental benefits that our reserves get a lot of recognition for. It’s also the social and community benefits our parks provide as well as the economic benefits
- Sam Cuff
Personal
There is a growing body of research about the benefits to mental and physical health of having access to natural spaces.
Articles and research papers seem to pop up every other day citing the health and wellbeing benefits of ‘green time’, showing clear links between the proximity of parks and the physical health of populations.
“There's some research from Japan that shows that parks and green spaces that have forest in them actually enhance immune functioning,” Ms Townsend said.
Time spent in natural spaces can play a key role in preventative and remedial health care. It has been shown to improve outcomes in obesity, high blood pressure, depression and speed up recovery times after illness or surgery.
So why is it that access to national parks and the wild natural spaces they provide is so beneficial?
Harvard biologist Edward Wilson proposed a theory called biophilia, after observing an almost universal love of natural things in people. He hypothesised people are drawn to nature because they have been biologically hardwired through the process of evolution to respond to it.
“Human beings throughout time have evolved in the company of other species, plant and animal, and it's really only in the last 200, 250 years that we've become urbanised,” Ms Townsend said.
Community
Healthier people also mean healthier communities. Societal benefits of having easily accessible national parks goes beyond just physical community health - it can also be a stimulus for more connected communities.
Ms Townsend said being in national parks provides opportunities for social interaction. She points out incidental conversations with strangers in national parks are perfectly normal, but approaching someone in the street to strike up a conversation is something of a social taboo.
“The environment facilitates social interactions. There’s research around that shows that, particularly for older people, the availability of trees and grass and the perceived level of greenness really increases the number of social contacts they have,” Ms Townsend said.
When they’re out in natural environments they are more likely to care about the other children rather than be selfishly oriented
- Mardie Townsend
Spending time in nature has also been proven to promote pro-social behaviours in children. “When they’re out in natural environments they are more likely to care about the other children rather than be selfishly oriented,” Ms Townsend said. Developing this is integral to building a cohesive and collaborative community.
Economic
If it comes down to it, there is also the plain dollars and cents value of Tasmania’s national parks. They are a key drawcard in what is emerging as a key economic driver of the state: tourism.
“We know that people paid $10 million in 2015 in entry and user fees and they bought $1.6 million of souvenirs in parks shops,” economist Saul Eslake said. “And of course on top of all that, the visitors to parks stayed in hotels and motels, bought meals in pubs and restaurants and cafes, they caught buses, they paid for petrol and they supported the economy in those and many other ways.”
The state's national parks are the foundation for a number of tourism businesses. “Across the state we have over 200 licensed commercial tourism operators that are reliant on that parks and reserves system,” Parks and Wildlife regional manager north Chris Colley said.
Time spent in nature also increases physical activity, which improves productivity. “Physical inactivity in this county costs over $13 billion in terms of costs and lost productivity,” Ms Townsend.
Mr Eslake said national parks may become even more economically valuable in the future, as they are monetised for their role absorbing carbon.
The upshot
Celebrating 100 years of national parks in the state is about more than just the physical land they protect. It is about recognising the role Tasmania’s national parks have played, and continue to play, in the health of the states people, communities, economy and environment.
Ms Townsend thinks the role of national parks will become increasingly important.
“We’ve moved ourselves away from nature and we’re doing it more and more now and if we’re going to do that … we need to provide these areas of naturalness where people can actually go out and reconnect with nature,” she said.