Recreation Activities (recreation + activity)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Head injuries related to sports and recreation activities in school-age children and adolescents: Data from a referral centre in Victoria, Australia

EMERGENCY MEDICINE AUSTRALASIA, Issue 1 2010
Louise M Crowe
Abstract Objectives:, Head injuries (HI) in children are common and even mild HI can lead to ongoing cognitive and behavioural changes. We set out to determine the causes of sport-related HI in school-age children presenting to a large urban ED as a basis for future interventions. Method:, Identification and medical record review of all sport-related HI in children aged 6,16 years at a tertiary children's hospital ED in Victoria, Australia, over a 1 year period. Information was collected on demographics, injury variables and radiology findings. HI were classified as mild, moderate and severe based on GCS and radiography reports. Results:, Over 12 months there were 406 HI in school-age children. Seventy per cent were male. A large number of HI (129; 33%) were related to sports. Of these, most were classified as mild and 13% were classified as moderate or severe. Among a range of sports, Australian Rules football was associated with more than 30% of all HI attributable to a sport and recreation cause. Equestrian activities were the main cause of moderate HI. Conclusion:, The present study identified sports as a major cause of HI in the Victorian paediatric emergency setting with Australian Rules football the most commonly involved sport. Further prevention initiatives should consider targeting Australian Rules football and equestrian activities. [source]


Managing Environmental Impacts of Recreation and Tourism in Rainforests of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area

GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2005
Stephen M. Turton
Abstract This paper describes environmental impacts of tourism and recreation activities in the world heritage listed rainforests of northeast Australia and presents management strategies for sustainable visitor use of the protected area. Tropical rainforests are characterised by their low resistance and moderate to high resilience to impacts associated with human visitation. Visitor use in the World Heritage Area is mostly associated with walking tracks, camping areas, day use areas and off-road vehicle use of old forestry roads and tracks. Adverse environmental impacts range from vegetation trampling, soil compaction, water contamination and soil erosion at the local scale through to spread of weeds, feral animals and soil pathogens along extensive networks of old forestry roads and tracks at the regional scale. Concentration of visitor use is the most desirable management strategy for controlling adverse impacts at most World Heritage Area visitor nodes and sites, and includes methods such as site hardening and shielding to contain impacts. For dispersed visitor activities, such as off-road vehicle driving and long-distance walking, application of best practice methods by the tourist industry and recreational users such as removal of mud and soils from vehicle tyres and hiking boots before entering pathogen-free catchments, together with seasonal closure of roads and tracks, are the preferred management strategies. Retention of canopy cover at camping areas and day use areas, as well as along walking tracks and forestry roads is a simple, yet effective, management strategy for reduction of a range of adverse impacts, including dispersal of weeds and feral animals, edge effects, soil erosion and nutrient loss, road kill and linear barrier effects on rainforest fauna. [source]


Experimental trampling and vegetation recovery in some forest and heathland communities

APPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 1 2004
P. Roovers
Abstract. Over the past decades outdoor recreation has become progressively more important and as a result human-induced potential damage has increased. In this study, short-term effects , a 2-yr period , of human trampling on some common forest and heath communities in Central Belgium were studied experimentally. Vulnerability to disturbance was compared among plant communities in terms of resistance, resilience and tolerance, which are based on cover measurements. The herb layer of the examined mesophilous forest communities appeared to be more sensitive than the heath and dry forest community, which were dominated by more resistant graminoid (Molinia caerulea, Deschampsiaflexuosa) and dwarf-shrub species (Vaccinium myrtillus, Calluna vulgaris, Erica tetralix). The analysis showed that site structure and vegetation were already affected by low intensities of trampling, while vegetation recovery during the first year after trampling was limited in most plant communities. Recovery during the second year in vegetation cover as well as height was most pronounced in mesophilous forest communities. Occasional trampling clearly can lead to increased visual evidence of previous use and continued recreational disturbance. Therefore management plans should discourage hiking activity off paths and restrict recreation activities to the least vulnerable communities. [source]


UNDERSTANDING TRADITIONALIST OPPOSITION TO MODERNIZATION: NARRATIVE PRODUCTION IN A NORWEGIAN MOUNTAIN CONFLICT

GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2008
Tor A. Benjaminsen
ABSTRACT. In Gausdal, a mountainous community in southern Norway, a conflict involving dogsledding has dominated local politics during the past two decades. In order to understand local protests against this activity, in this article we apply discourse analysis within the evolving approach of political ecology. In this way, we also aim at contributing to the emerging trend of bringing political ecology "home". To many people, dogsledding appears as an environmentally friendly outdoor recreation activity as well as a type of adventure tourism that may provide new income opportunities to marginal agricultural communities. Hence, at a first glance, the protests against this activity may be puzzling. Looking for explanations for these protests, this empirical study demonstrates how the opposition to dogsledding may be understood as grounded in four elements of a narrative: (1) environmental values are threatened; (2) traditional economic activities are threatened; (3) outsiders take over the mountain; and (4) local people are powerless. Furthermore, we argue that the narrative is part of what we see as a broader Norwegian "rural traditionalist discourse". This discourse is related to a continued marginalization of rural communities caused by increasing pressure on agriculture to improve its efficiency as well as an "environmentalization" of rural affairs. Thus, the empirical study shows how opposition to dogsledding in a local community is articulated as a narrative that fits into a more general pattern of opposition to rural modernization in Norway as well as internationally. [source]