BEAUTIFULLY GREEN: The grass covered Padang Merdeka is shaded by many fantastically old trees.
BREATHE in the oxygen rich air. Let your eyes feast upon the green leaves. Direct your ears to the call of birds or the absence of traffic. Feel life below your feet. Feel with all your senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch – listen with your soul. You are in a green oasis – one of the small patches of green which dot the concrete deserts of cities. You feel life awakening in every nerve. Breathe in …
Kuching has been called a garden city because there are many green places (green oases) dotting the city landscape — from the grass covered Padang Merdeka, which is shaded by many fantastically old trees; to the Museum Gardens and Reservoir Park (now known as Taman Budaya); to the manicured lawns of Friendship Park; to the home gardens and patches of grass in subdivisions; to Sama Jaya Nature Reserve in Tabuan Jaya. We in Kuching are truly fortunate to have so many green places.
Renewal
These parks are an important part of the urban landscape for many reasons. The first that comes to mind is recreation. The parking lots, for example at Sama Jaya Forest Reserve, Friendship Park and Reservoir Park, are full in the late afternoon as many people living in Kuching go walking, jogging or running. Exercise, as does nature, reduces stress.
The belief that getting out and into a park is restorative is supported by recent findings from the University of Glasgow. Individuals who participate in activities in urban green spaces are generally healthier than those who don’t and living close to a park can reduce the divide between wealthy and poor individuals. Plus if we visit parks with our children, it is likely that they will with theirs.
A quick visit to an urban park can let us reconnect with nature. We attempt to control the environment in which we live by, for example, building houses and air conditioning them (in the tropics) or heating them (in cold areas). Even here our actions are affected and controlled by the weather and climate – elements of the natural world. So a visit to Sama Jaya Forest Reserve is a reminder that we are part of the natural world. We can feel a sense of spiritual renewal when we make this reconnection.
A refuge
Parks and gardens provide a refuge for nature. All sorts of birds, insects, mammals and other animals can be seen in the park – if you stop to listen and look.
A quiet stretch at one of the small gazebos in Sama Jaya Forest Park will let you into the secret lives of birds, as small forest birds flit from tree to tree. Squirrels and long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) flit from treetop to treetop as they look down at the runners who stare up at them. Frogs and lizards make this minute patch of forest and small streams home too.
It is here that nature can exist side by side with cities. Thus urban parks can be a living classroom for visitors to experience the joys of nature first-hand.
Keeping cool
A tree lined street is just so much cooler than one edged with concrete walls. The temperature is noticeably cooler under the ballooning branches of a tree. We actively seek the shade during hot days. Trees not only cool the air, but are carbon sinks – they store a lot of carbon in their woody trunks, roots and branches.
Carbon dioxide, one of the main pollutants contributing to the warming of the Earth, is also a key ingredient in the process of photosynthesis. This is the process from which green plants use energy to build complex substances from carbon dioxide and water. And another end product is oxygen, which is released into the air. The carbon which is used to build these complex substances remains tied up until the plant dies and decomposes or is used as a source of energy, for example during the burning of wood.
In short, urban parks, green lungs, green oases are key parts of the city landscape because they:
• are places to relax and exercise
• improve health
• are a refuge for wildlife
• create pleasantly green landscapes
• provide shade
• reduce pollution
• provide educational opportunities
• provide opportunities for connecting with nature
For more information go to the article ‘The role of urban parks for the sustainable city’ by Science Direct at www.sciencedirect.com or the article ‘Parks help narrow health gap between rich, poor: study’ at http://www.cbc.ca/.