Cultural services

Health effects of nature

Many scientific studies show the importance of green areas for the physical and mental health of people living and visiting the area. Different mechanisms are linked: view and contact with nature contribute to mental health (stress, depression). Closeness of nature stimulates open air recreation and exercise with direct positive effects for health and related positive effects due to reduced obesities. Contact with nature helps the development of children. In addition, green space offers a unique setting for health tourism. The presence of nature with health effects is estimated based on the relative area of nature within a distance of 1 to 3 km from a certain location. In addition, the number of healthy years that local people gain from the presence of nature in a distance of 1 to 3 km is also estimated. Quantification is based on the results of a scientific multi-annual programme in the Netherlands (Vitamine G – Maas, 2008). This research proofs the positive correlation between the area of nature within a distance of 1 km from the house and the reduced risk on 18 out of 24 specifically studied diseases. It shows a positive effect for heart diseases, neck and back pain, depression, anxiety disorder, infection of the upper respiratory system, asthma, infection of the gastrointestinal system, urinary system and diabetes.

Added value of nature

Houses in the vicinity of green areas (nature, forest and agricultural areas) get an added value due to the view on the area (visual pleasure) and the vicinity of these areas for recreation. The latter effect is included in the ecosystem service recreation. The visual pleasure is an additional benefit. This benefit is estimated based on studies that found a difference between the value of houses with a view on green areas and the value of houses with a view on a stony environment (hedonic price methods). The own garden is not taken into account for this benefit. The ecosystem service added value from nature is expressed as the added value in € that houses get from the vicinity of nature. The effect of a view on nature is expressed in a percentage change in the property value of houses. It is estimated that the added value of houses with a view on green areas is 5% to 14% with an average of 9 % (literature study in the Netherlands; Ruijgrok, 2006).

Recreation

While walking in nature, we make use of the green space and enjoy the diversity of positive effects of it. Offering opportunities for recreation could be considered as a service from ecosystems. The ecosystem service recreation is expressed as the number of visitors, per year and per hectare. This relates to a wide gamma of open air recreation types: nature based activities (bird watching, nature studies, …), soft and informal recreation (walking and cycling) and specific activities (playing, running, mountainbiking, swimming, sailing, hunting, …), short and long term activities including day trips and touristic visits. Functional mobility (eg. biking to work) in a green environment, is not taken into account for this services.

The estimation of the number of recreants depends on the demand for visiting an open space and the supply of green space at community level. The demand is determined based on survey (measuring the average number of visits per inhabitant per year to green areas and the population density) and based on the touristic stays in an area. The supply depends on the availability of nature areas and parks, forest management and agriculture. In function of the attractiveness of an area, visits are spatially divided. The total number of visits per average inhabitant in nature/forest and agriculture is estimated at 11.8 and 8.5 times per year, respectively. The total demand for recreation is based on the number of inhabitants per community. In addition, touristic visits are derived from the number of reported stays (non-business) per community.

Characteristics of the area that have an impact on the distribution of visits, are:

Relative presence of forest, nature and agriculture within an area: more forest and nature make areas more attractive.
Accessibility: we assume that nature areas are accessible (or will be and remain), while for forests accessibility is only assumed in case of management by public instances (eg. agency for nature and forest, province, Natuurpunt).
Size of the area: all areas are potentially relevant for local recreation, but a larger area is more attractive and can attract people that live at a greater distance. On the other hand, an area of more than 300 ha is not more attractive than an area of 300 ha.
Agricultural areas within a 500 m distance from water, forest or boating place, are more attractive than other agricultural areas.