Exploring Greenspaces: Benefits & Mutual Reimbursements - Essay Sample

Introduction

As from the past, the natural environment has been providing spaces for rest, contemplation, and play. Like living things, the natural environment depends on human beings for care; this will also result in mutual reimbursements. The greenspaces provide direct benefits such as regulation of urban stress. Also, trees control air pollution, temperatures, to mention but a few, and this ensures a healthy and enjoyable environment (McPhearson et al., 2017). Today, many cities have seen a large number of forest stewards and volunteers who plant trees to ensure that future generations experience similar benefits (Locke et al., 2020). The purpose of this paper is to explore restoration and recreational volunteering leisure activity and demonstrate what motivates people to participate in it.

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Restoration and recreational volunteering is a leisure activity that promotes social interaction and other unique fulfilling experience. The main purpose of the activity is to protect and restore natural landscapes. Volunteering decides to personally involve themselves with nature for individual benefits as well as restoring and aiding the survival of natural species. For example, for the past 20 years, several volunteers are frequently designed a project were they work three hours a day to restore Illinois prairie (LockstoneBinney et al., 2010). They devote their time and energy to engage in activities such as habit restoration, planting of native trees, and monitoring of wildlife.

I have never heard of restoration and recreational volunteering as a leisure activity before. What I know is that leisure is how people organize their free time to participate in activities such as sport, tourism, and playing games. Restoration and recreational volunteering are more of a job where individuals volunteer to gain experience of work. It explores a different approach to work relationship in that one can easily associate the activity with occupational income (LockstoneBinney et al., 2010). Moreover, until recently, I knew that leisure was an unimportant minor feature of activity; I could, therefore, not refer restoration and recreational volunteering as a leisure activity because it has both individual and environmental benefits.

Restoration and recreational volunteering leisure activity have no restrictions on who should participate or not. Participants are a group of people of all ages who are generally considered to be altruistic to volunteer for nature and other recreational and restoration activities. In other words, this activity is flexible in that it allows all people to participate. They also work with the orphanages giving them valuable skills about environmental conservation, woodwork, and restoration of art.

However, there have been questions concerning the activity. When do people do this? Restoration and recreational volunteering is a leisure activity, meaning that people find time to participate in it during their free time. According to xxx, people will prefer to be present in this activity other than going to traveling tours. The reason being, the volunteers get an opportunity to work with the locals who are open in embracing restoration and recreational and showing them their way of life.

People participate in all activities that are available in the local community. They get a chance to talk to the people residing there and also get help from them. For example, in the video, the volunteers participate with the Nepali people, in activities such as artwork, woodwork, and other activities related to forest conservation (Gompa, 2013). The locals are always open to the volunteers even if they do not speak the same language.

These restoration and recreational leisure activities are advertised every year by the Restoration Works International (Gompa, 2013). Therefore, anyone who is interested can sign up to receive a newsletter for the upcoming events. Restoration Works International is a non-profitable organization that works with volunteers to restore the cultural heritage in various communities around the world.

Many benefits can motivate people to participate in the activity despite the fun they find in it. First, the volunteers get an experience that is beyond the overall satisfaction (Miles et al., 1998). They get to connect with other people, something that leaves a state of mind quite for reflection. At the same time, the volunteers get an opportunity to learn the heritage of other people's culture and to participate in physically demanding tasks. They make new friends and meet their interests.

Restoration and recreational volunteering leisure activity are not a 'taboo' because society does not consider it a no-no. A taboo is a social custom that restricts certain people from the association. I do not consider restoration and recreational volunteering a taboo. The activity makes an important contribution to the local communities and the environment in particular. It allows the volunteers to meet new friends, learn cultures and ways of life of other people (Gorlova et al., 2019). They get to extend their social endeavors in different countries around the world. The volunteers are a major workforce that takes a variety of roles. I would love to participate in this kind of activity to not only have fun and get an enormous sense of satisfaction.

Conclusion

In conclusion, restoration and recreational volunteering leisure activity is a wide field, which comprises of restoration of cultural habitat, recreational of forests and natural landscapes, among others. It is a flexible kind of activity in that it does not restrict who to participate. Volunteers get to learn new skills, cultures, and new ways of life and they interact with people from different communities; therefore, they not only have fun but acquire a sense of gratification.

References

Gompa, C. (2013). The Volunteer Experience. Restoration Works International. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua1H9_2ue8E

Gorlova, N. I., Troska, Z. A., Starovojtova, L. I., Demidova, T. E., Akhtyan, A. G., & Shcheglova, A. S. (2019). Restoration volunteering as a social phenomenon of modern history. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 8(2), 147-154. https://www.degruyter.com/downloadpdf/j/ajis.2019.8.issue-2/ajis-2019-0026/ajis-2019-0026.xml

Locke, D. H., York, A., & Grove, J. M. (2020). Know your watershed and know your neighbor: Paths to supporting urban watershed conservation and restoration in Baltimore, MD and Phoenix, AZ. Landscape and Urban Planning, 195, 103714. https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/download/59153.pdf

LockstoneBinney, L., Holmes, K., Smith, K., & Baum, T. (2010). Volunteers and volunteering in leisure: Social science perspectives. Leisure Studies, 29(4), 435-455. https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/26544/1/strathprints026544.pdf

McPhearson, P. T., Feller, M., Felson, A., Karty, R., Lu, J. W., Palmer, M. I., & Wenskus, T. (2017). Assessing the effects of the urban forest restoration effort of MillionTreesNYC on the structure and functioning of New York City ecosystems. Urban Forests: Ecosystem Services and Management, 265. https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1079&context=cate

Miles, I., Sullivan, W. C., & Kuo, F. E. (1998). Ecological restoration volunteers: the benefits of participation. Urban ecosystems, 2(1), 27-41. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/William_Sullivan6/publication/227259269_Ecological_restoration_volunteers_The_benefits_of_participation/links/00b49527275bf4ba50000000.pdf