The health and well-being impacts of protected areas in Finland

ABSTRACT

Following the growth of nature-based tourism, national parks and other protected areas have become important tourist attractions and tools for regional development. Meanwhile, research on the impact of nature on human health and well-being is increasing and taken into account in park management. This study examines health and well-being benefits perceived by visitors to Finland's protected areas. It is based on survey data from five national parks and one strict nature reserve in 2013–2015: an on-site visitor survey (N = 3152) and an Internet-based health and well-being survey (N = 1054). The study indicates that visitors’ perceived benefits to their well-being were highly positive. Visits to protected areas promoted psychological, physical, and social benefits. In particular, park visits were found to provide strong and multi-faceted, long-lasting, embodied and sensory well-being experiences as well as escape from everyday life and work. Overnight visitors reported more well-being benefits than day visitors, and different types of park had different well-being benefits. The study suggests that the potential benefits of protected areas for public health are significant, emphasizing the need to integrate health and well-being arguments into the neoliberalist politics assessing the economic benefits of protected areas and their role in regional development.

KEYWORDS:

• Nature-based tourism
• protected areas
• national parks
• health
• well-being
• Finland

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the staff of Parks & Wildlife Finland, especially Joel Erkkonen, Liisa Kajala, Veikko Virkkunen, and Matti Tapaninen.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. A broad wetland with an open area in its center (see http://eunis.eea.europa.eu/habitats/10154).

Additional information

Funding

This work was partly supported by TEKES funded project ADELE -- Autoimmune defense and living environment [grant number 40333/14] and the Ecosystem services network funded by the Finnish Rural Policy Committee (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) [grant number 58/03.01.03/2016].

Notes on contributors

Riikka Puhakka

Riikka Puhakka , PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki, Department of Environmental Sciences, Finland. Previously, she worked at the University of Oulu and at the University of Joensuu. Her research interests include nature-based tourism, sustainable tourism, human relationships with nature, and the health and well-being impacts of nature.

Kati Pitkänen

Kati Pitkänen , PhD, is a senior researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute, Environmental Policy Centre and was previously a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Eastern Finland and at Umeå University (Sweden). Her current research interests include the green economy, rural development, second home and nature-based tourism, and health and well-being impacts of nature and green infrastructure.

Pirkko Siikamäki

Pirkko Siikamäki , PhD, adjunct professor, works as a regional manager for nature protection at Metsähallitus, which controls the state's agency, Parks & Wildlife Finland. Her research interests include the evolution of clutch size in passerine birds, conservation ecology and the genetics of rare plants and most recently sustainable nature tourism and the relationships between biodiversity and nature-based tourism. Previously, she was a director of the University of Oulu's Oulanka Research Station.