Recreational Activity

In the fast developing cities today, the land availability is scarce for allocating it as a park. One of a solution to this situation is to convert the left-over (vacant) spaces into a park. It will increase the physical as well as recreation activities in the urban settlement. One of the primary criteria for the parks is to have them within a walk able distance. Such parks can be of two kinds: playgrounds and community gardens. These also can be named as mini-parks and for developing such parks serving a common interest, an active support is required from within the Commonwealth and the Government. These small places or mini parks can serve a dual purpose such as recreation as well as the generation of economic activity to a smaller extent. The paper discusses over health aspects in an urban area for the citizens followed by basics of and some of the cases related to novel efforts in developing mini-parks. The cases discussed are of (A) Paley Park, NY-USA, (B) Mini-park in Higashi-Ikebukuro of Tokyo and (C) Ghost train park of Lima. Authors attempt for a comparative analysis of these three parks. Discussion follows a proposal of developing a recently closed down project of Sky-bus in Goa as a mini-park. The authority acquired land for the Sky-bus corridor, wherein the spaces at different interval can serve for creating mini-parks.

Decay rates in coastal water and sediment for the bacterial pathogens Salmonella typhimurium and S. derby were compared in laboratory-based microcosms with results previously obtained for a number of faecal indicators. In general, the decay rates of Salmonella spp. were greater than either enterococci or coliphage in overlying water and sediment. Decay rates of E. coli were similar to Salmonella spp. in overlying water, although greater in sediment. Raised temperature resulted in an increased decay rate for all organisms in the overlying water (and to a lesser extent in the surface sediment layer). It was demonstrated that decay rates for both S. typhimurium and S. derby were greater in overlying water compared with sediment. This suggested that sediments may be acting as a reservoir for pathogenic microorganisms released into the coastal environment during recreational activity and should be considered when estimating environmental exposure. Using measured decay rates and available...

Summary 1There is often a perceived conflict between recreational access and wildlife conservation. Although many studies have investigated the potential effects on birds, this is the first study to demonstrate an impact of recreational disturbance on population size. 2We studied the impact of disturbance on a woodlark Lullula arborea population on 16 heathland sites in southern England. These sites all had historical records of breeding woodlarks and together encompassed a range of visitor-access levels. 3A logistic regression model of patch use was used to quantify the area of habitat suitable for woodlarks. Woodlarks favoured patches with substantial proportions of bare ground and short vegetation. Across heaths, woodlark density (per hectare of suitable habitat) was lower on sites with higher levels of disturbance. Within heaths with recreational access, the probability of suitable habitat being colonized was lower in those areas with greater disturbance and was reduced to below...

Underwater trails are intended as interpretative tools in marine parks, but concentrating divers and snorkelers in defined areas may negatively affect the surrounding environment. We examined spatial and temporal patterns in the effects of use of underwater trails on coral reef flats in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia. Changes in benthic assemblages were assessed on two new trails