Want to Be Happy? Live Near a Park

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Want To Be Happy? Live Near A Park
New research finds that the effect of green space on personal well-being is more than you might guess.
 

BEN SCHILLER 05.15.13 10:00 AM
As urban planners debate the merits of, say, a new shopping center versus maintaining the local park, they might consider this: over time, parks—and other green spaces—make people feel better about themselves.

Or, at least, that is the takeaway from a long-term study of 12,000 people in the U.K. Researchers at the University of Exeter used survey data measuring both life satisfaction and mental distress, then matched that to a map ranking 32,482 areas for their greenness. They found that people living in greener areas were consistently more satisfied, and experienced less distress.

Be very careful before building on public green spaces
The work builds on previous studies that also found a green space-mental health link, but had selection issues. Researchers couldn’t say whether it was the green space that made people happier, or whether happy people moved to greener areas. The new work gets around that by following the same people over an 18-year period.

Lead author Mat White says at an individual level the effect isn’t huge, statistically. But it is significant in comparative terms. For example, according to the research, living near a green space has a third of the positive mental effect as getting married, and a tenth of the impact of getting a job when you don’t have one.

Moreover, the effect of green space could be cumulatively large, if you look at the wider population. Getting married might improve two people’s sense of well-being, but a park could improve a whole city’s, potentially. "These small differences can add up if they affect many people," he says.

For that reason, White suggests planners take mental health into account. "Health outcomes are only one thing in the mix. But I’d say be very careful before building on public green spaces, or cutting budgets to maintain existing ones."

More Photos from the Helicopter cleanup on McIntyre Creek

Garbage REmoval Project

December 15, 2015 was a day with a great sense of accomplishment for the Friends of McIntyre Creek.

 Two years ago a Whitehorse resident dumped some large household articles over the cliff
at a very well used wildlife viewing site.

The Friends of McIntyre Creek’s mandate is to monitor and preserve the integrity of the
Creek. We therefore took action to deal with this careless dumping of waste, which was not only an
eyesore, but a real threat of toxic contamination to the fauna and flora of the Creek.

The Friends of McIntyre Creek approached Heli Dynamics to see if they would work
with us to air lift this garbage to a place that the City of Whitehorse could manage the
disposal.

 Heli Dynamics quoted us  a fair price for the job and we were thereby able to approach
The Yukon Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Trust  for sponsorship  for the charter of the
helicopter.  With this sponsorship,  we were able to involve the City and Yukon
Government, and made the decision to wait until the ground froze, enabling us to gather the
garbage  into a net for retrieval.

On December 15th,  three nets full of  garbage were lifted by helicopter from the valley
floor and placed in a turnaround big enough for the City’s truck and loader to load and remove the items.

The Friends of McIntyre Creek wish to thank the following people and groups who assisted with this Project:

- Ta’an Kwach’an Council and their wildlife technician Phil Emerson, who gathered the garbage into the net.

- The President of the Whitehorse Disc Golf  Association, Ryan Norquay,  who worked along side of Phil ,also donating his time and energy to gather the garbage  into the nets.

-  Heli Dynamics for the assistance they provided to lift the 3 nets full to a  better place.

-  Marc Boulerince from City of Whitehorse Parks Department for  his help in getting the dump truck and loader and being by for extra hands when needed.

This cleanup was accomplished with the help of many hands, and we cannot express enough thanks to everyone who assisted.

We will continue to monitor all areas for garbage dumping and abuse to the water shed.

As well, we continually monitor  the health and status of our wetlands and streams
through our official Wetland Keepers program and  Stream Keepers program.

Please help us to keep this area in its untainted, natural state for all to enjoy.



The Friends of McIntyre Creek.

Cathy Deacon took these photos last year.  If you look closely, you can see many ducks and swans at the mouth of the creek.  They go in and out of the creek area and the river in the fall and spring.

Bio Diversity Forum Nov 10, 2015

Summary Report of the BioDiversity Forum reported by Dorothy Bradley - President of FOMC.

"There was a good report on the toxic substances found in the Whitehorse Lagoon . It was stated that there are a lot of birds living in this lagoon in the summer. The lagoon is emptied 3 times a year into the Yukon River.

Reports on birds: Albert Creek bird banding station has banded 50,000 birds. Teslin Lake has banded 23,000 birds. McIntyre Creek is the most visited bird banding station of all of them and it is the least supported financially.

Wilson’s Warbler is the most seen bird in Albert Creek. The Alder Flycatcher is the most seen in Teslin Lake. These three sites are the most northerly bird Banding stations in Canada.

There was a study done on the width of the riparian zones required for terrestrial birds and animals. It has been found that for the most birds the protected zone is not enough to provide habitat for the birds. The new finds in the Yukon are the Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble bee which is endangered, the purple flowered sage found on Beaver Mountain and the Orchid Larkspur found in the Richardson Mountains.

Over all it was was a very interesting afternoon. The last comment that very much caught my attention was that 

‘Many scientist think it is too late to stop Climate Change.'"”

FOMC Poster at the Biodiversity forum -  Photos compiled
by Gerry Steers - Gerry's Computer Magic

Photo of reflection at McIntyre Creek

This photo was shared with us by Ian McKenzie

Currant Berries along McIntyre Creek