Areas Of Beauty Research Articles

More beautiful areas: Performativity and presence in the integrated soundtrack

In 2019, I presented a paper at a conference in NUI Maynooth, Ireland that used Kevin Donnelly’s notion of the soundtrack as spectre as the starting point for discussing performativity and presence in the films of Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev. During the discussion that followed, Danijela Kulezic-Wilson, who was in attendance, raised several observations concerning the relevance of Donnelly’s concept to her own research exploring the integrated soundtrack. This paper essentially seeks to continue that conversation. By revisiting several examples explored in Kulezic-Wilson’s chapter on “Soundtrack’s Liminal Spaces” in Sound Design Is the New Score, alongside others including Nick Cave’s score for The Proposition (John Hillcoat, 2005) and Birdman (Alejandro Iñárritu, 2014), I explore to what extent Donnelly’s analogy can be expanded to consider instances in film where the foregrounding of tactile musical gestures and spatial placement within the audio mix results in a distinctly performative, quasi-physical sensibility that challenges the “insubstantial” status of Donnelly’s spectral presence. Drawing on a broad framework of theoretical concepts including Miguel Mera’s discussion of the haptic score and Paul Sanden’s network of liveness, this paper aims to provide a complimentary perspective to an important aspect of Danijela Kulezic-Wilson’s significant contribution to the study of film sound and music.

Investigating the Intention of Tourists to Travel to the World Heritage Destination: The Mediating Role of Familiarity

This study investigates the intention of tourists to travel to the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in India, a conservation area of natural bio-diversity that was accorded World Heritage Site status in 2014. The main constructs that have been used in the study are an image of the destination, homestay preference, destination familiarity and intention to travel. The S-O-R framework has been further used to find the tourists’ intention to travel to GHNP. A closed-ended questionnaire was administered to 1,020 respondents in India. The results show that path coefficients for all constructs are statistically significant. Tourists’ intention to travel is likely to be influenced by the destination image and the preference for a local homestay, which is mediated by destination familiarity. The study is not longitudinal and sheds light on respondents’ perceptions for a specific time period. Policymakers must design policies that focus on developing campaigns that promote lesser-known destinations, thus ensuring a positive destination image and enhancing destination familiarity by providing authentic information. Such a shift in tourism will foster employment in rural and less-known areas of natural beauty. Further, tourists’ preference to stay in homestay arrangements allows them to experience local hospitality.

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya as a Farm Tourism Destination: Basis for Post-Pandemic Tourism Branding

This study aims to assess Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya and the farm tourism sites located in the municipality as a farm tourism destination using the variables from the study of Singh-Knights in 2020. The data were taken through a survey questionnaire using a Likert Scale. The results of its quantitative descriptive analysis were used as a basis for recommendations for the post-pandemic branding of Bayombong. The respondents agreed that Bayombong can be a farm tourism destination in all areas. The area of natural beauty was rated highest (mean=4.22) while Existing Tourism Activity was rated the lowest (mean=3.60). The respondents also agreed that the farm sites in Bayombong possessed the features of a farm tourism destination. The area of business skills and personal qualities was rated highest (mean= 4.01) while built features and cultural artifacts were rated the lowest (mean=3.50). The farm tourism stakeholders also recommended promotion, road development, and strong partnership of farm owners with the government to achieve the goal of branding Bayombong as a farm tourism destination.

Depiction Of Baltistan’s Civilization And Its People In Urdu Travelogue

Baltistan is one of the most beautiful areas of Pakistan situated in its North. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari named this area Gilgit-Baltistan through an ordinance in 2009. The writers of Urdu travelogues in Pakistan have beautifully portrayed severalcolours of the civilization of Baltistane.g; cultural festivals, food, customs and traditions, sports and values in their works and enriched Urdu literature. Most of the travelogues have been written about Northern areas.
 The writers of Urdu travelogues have depicted the beautiful scenes of huge mountains, hilarious cascades and fascinating valleys of ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’ in a way as if the reader is wander in heaven after its reading. Our writers have highlighted physical beauty and civilization of this area that the reader is much curious to visit this place. This area has been blessed not only with apparent beauty but also with spiritual enlightenment. The beauty of character of the natives stands for spiritual enlightenment. They have further adorned this area with beauty of their characters. They are different from the rest of the people of Pakistan in their simplicity, courage, hardworking, honour and sincerity and these qualities enrich their separate existence. In this article, a comprehensive analysis of civilization and people of Baltistan has been presented.

Towards the Conservation of Monumental Taxus baccata L. Trees of Thasos Island: Genetic Insights

Taxus baccata L. is a tertiary relict, long-lived, wind-pollinated dioecious tree species found throughout Europe. In the rocky mountains of Thasos island, monumental old trees create a unique area of natural beauty. In recent times, the need to implement conservation measures for key endangered species such as Taxus baccata has intensified. Exploring the genetic diversity of the species is a prerequisite for successful forest management decisions aimed at conservation. In this study, 28 monumental trees from two natural populations of Thasos were investigated using eight Simple Sequence Repeat markers in order to assess the levels of genetic diversity and genetic differentiation within the individuals, to estimate the degree of inbreeding and the effective population size of each population, and to discuss the impact this study has on conservation efforts for the species. Although the population size was small (14 individuals per population), the results showed moderate to high genetic diversity parameters. The mean expected heterozygosity was He = 0.649 and the number of effective alleles was Ne = 3.270 for both populations. Moreover, allelic richness (AR = 3.395) was high, indicating a variable genetic pool which is probably a result of a past established expansion of the species in the area. The results of the present study present a unique genetic pool harbored by specific trees, which is an important advantage for ensuring their conservation and resistance against biotic and abiotic threats. Our study paves the way towards conservation measures, which can be prioritized as follows: (a) in situ conservation, (b) seed bank establishment, and (c) in vitro propagation in order to secure future resilience and sustainability of the species.

Mapping cultural ecosystem services: A case study in Lesvos Island, Greece

Coastal and marine ecosystems are under high pressure from multiple activities that take place in coastal areas. Mapping and assessment of ecosystem services are considered essential to support decision-making in policies on the sustainable management of these areas. In this paper, an integrated indicator has been developed and applied to map and assess Recreation Opportunities that are supplied by coastal and marine ecosystems on the Island of Lesvos, North Aegean, Greece, which is an area of great natural wealth and beauty, but it is under numerous threats from various activities that take place within its boundaries. The proposed indicator integrates biophysical, social and managerial aspects of Ecosystem Services (ES) to assess potential ES flow. It is a flexible methodology that utilizes available data and user-friendly geo-technologies and can be used for local scale assessment. A discussion is carried out on the importance of such methodologies for Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), and recommendations are made as to how this indicator may be improved.

GLAMPING RESORT DI KABUPATEN BENGKAYANG

The busyness that tends to be the same and the problems faced every day make people bored. You can relieve boredom by taking a vacation to natural attractions. Nature that has a varied topography such as hilly areas, beaches, valleys, and others gives rise to beautiful areas. One area that has topographic diversity is in Bengkayang Regency, West Kalimantan. One of the activities that can enjoy nature directly is camping / camping activities. Not everyone can do camping activities because the terrain is difficult to reach. Therefore, glamping (glamour camping) emerged which is a luxurious and practical camping activity as a solution. Glamping can be combined with resorts which are tourist attractions equipped with lodging facilities and produce glamping resorts that offer visitors the convenience of staying in the open. The method used is the J.C Jones method with direct data collection and based on literature studies. The aim of the design is to design a tourist area without destroying nature, to adapt to existing site conditions, and to be easy to pass. The result of the design is a tourist area that can be reached easily consisting of several masses of buildings that are placed in certain areas as facilities of the area such as glamping inns which are placed in the back area of the area and outbound which are placed scattered following the shape of the area's contours.

Biodiversity as an Outstanding Universal Value for Integrated Management of Natural and Cultural Heritage

UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre has set ten criteria for assessing Outstanding Universal Values (OUVs) for the inscription of properties on the World Heritage List. Recognising the growing challenge for heritage conservation and the need for professionals to work within systemic, holistic, and integrated frameworks in managing cultural heritage and using biodiversity as an OUV, this paper investigates how the intangible and tangible cultural and natural heritage of the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece is interconnected over the course of centuries. We review the evolution of the existing legislative framework to protect archaeological treasures and local flora and fauna and document the richness of ongoing ecological and biological processes in the region for strengthening the arguments for an integrated protection and management system. Locating the archaeological sites and monuments in protected natural zones and areas of exceptional beauty with the use of the open code QGIS programme and focusing on their description and analysis, the present research recommends their interlinked management under the leadership of a Joint Destination Management Organisation.

What experiences do tourists seek in national parks? Analysis of TripAdvisor reviews

The article aims to analyse and compare experiences gained by tourists visiting three national parks in Poland. The authors focused on the following questions: What are people's experiences visiting national parks in Poland? Do the natural assets of the national parks affect visitors' unique experiences, or are environmentally valuable areas not crucial for their experiences? The authors used mixed quantitative (text mining, correspondence analysis) and qualitative (content analysis) methods. The data for analysis were opinions written by TripAdvisor users. Reviews on TripAdvisor indicate that the most important experiences for tourists in the National Parks studied were Nature appreciation and Physical activity. The other groups of experiences reflected in the reviews were: Aesthetic, Connection, Tension and Excitement. This confirms that nature is the most important feature of national parks for tourists, but it also indicates a trend to maintain good health and the desire to regenerate physical strength in areas of natural beauty.

An ontology-based web decision support system to find entertainment points of interest in an urban area

ABSTRACT In recent years, decision support systems (DSSs) have successfully deployed ontologies in their architecture. The result of such a use is information systems that assist users and organizations in semi-structured decision-making activities. Visitors from throughout Iran travel to different cities and regions every year, and they need help making their choices. Some of these tourists are unable to visit the beautiful areas of the destination city due to a lack of awareness. In this study, we design an ontology-based spatial DSS to find entertainment and tourism centers in Arak, Iran. The objective is to provide users with recommendations appropriate for the location, time, age group, type of activity, and other factors. In this model, the demands and concerns of tourists have been managed by creating a domain Web Ontology Language (OWL) for entertainment centers as a knowledge base in the Protégé environment. The developed web-based DSS operates on a client-server architecture using technologies such as Werkzeug and Flask. As a result, it makes it possible to ontology reasoning based on the HermiT engine to choose the right center and conduct a semantic search on classes related to the appropriate point of interest. The main distinction between the proposed methodology and the previous studies on spatial DSS is that criteria are object properties in an ontology. Therefore, decision support relies on real-time reasoning rather than transforming criteria into geospatial layers. The evaluation results confirmed efficient interaction with this system, purposeful information retrieval, and rapid decision-making process. The results also indicated that searching for a POI (point of interest) in the study area using the developed system is at least 30% more successful than a search engine or social media. Moreover, to overcome the cold start problem, the proposed technique might be utilized in conjunction with the POI recommender systems.

Areas of Outstanding Nineteenth Century Beauty: Historic landscape characterisation analysis of protected areas in England

Abstract Establishing and expanding protected areas (PAs) has become a key conservation tool in efforts to halt global declines in biodiversity. Given the ubiquity of past and present human influence, PAs inevitably include landscapes and seascapes with varying levels of human modification. We briefly review the geographical biases in England's terrestrial PA network, noting that landscape‐scale PAs (National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) across England disproportionately occupy rugged upland terrain of low agricultural value as a result of the specific history of PA creation, but that this also biases which historic landscapes compose PAs. We explore these biases using Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC). Analysis of HLC revealed that PAs in our focal region in northern England are defined by land‐use changes and landscape reorganisation processes of the 18th and 19th centuries, primarily that of enclosure. The impact this landscape transformation had on biodiversity should now form a priority for further research. This historic landscape influence on PA designation has resulted in PAs being typically owned by large estates with consequences for their biodiversity, management and wider social impact (e.g. greater wealth inequalities). The results highlight that historic landscape perspectives are useful to address conservation priorities and practices related to the protection of biodiversity and could be especially helpful in understanding the interaction between biodiversity protection and historic land‐uses, ownership, management, access and other social impacts. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Trade-offs between the natural environment and recreational infrastructure: A case study about peatlands under different management scenarios

The importance of peatlands for conservation and provision of public services has been well evidenced in the last years, especially in relation to their contribution to the net zero carbon emission agenda. However, little is known about the importance of recreation relative to conservation and their trade-offs. In this paper we address this knowledge gap by exploring the trade-offs between natural properties of peatlands and recreational infrastructures for different categories of recreationists (walkers, cyclists, anglers, and birdwatchers) of an open heather moors and peatlands landscape. We do so building on a series of management scenarios formulated through participatory methods and applying choice experiment related to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and UNESCO Global Geopark in the UK. Results show a high degree of heterogeneity in landscape preferences across different user groups. Recreationists had a higher appreciation for semi-natural habitats compared to pristine or restored peatland (e.g., land rewetting). Walkers and cyclists were more sensitive to changes in the availability of recreational facilities than to environmental quality, while anglers’ and birdwatchers’ preferences were more aligned with values promoted by restoration policies. Overall, our results point to a potential value conflict between benefits generated by conservation and the benefits valued most by some groups of recreationists. To maximise success conflicts like the one revealed here need to be considered in strategies that provide a central role for peatlands in net zero climate mitigation strategies.

New West and Old West in the Twenty-First Century: The Rich Get Richer

The rural U.S. West is increasingly valued for its unique natural beauty, tourism potential, and the outdoor recreational activities it provides rather than for its grazing potential, lumber mills, or extraction of valuable minerals. With this transition in mind, we examine demographic changes in the region within the context of selective migration. We build on research conducted in the late 1990s that studied the changing spatial patterns of migration and income migration within the rural Mountain West. We update the current economic and demographic structure of the region and then document how 1990s patterns have persisted through an analysis of population concentration and income migration using U.S. Census and Internal Revenue Service data. Positive net migration and income migration have focused on New West (high amenity) counties, whereas the Old West, comprised of government, mining and manufacturing, farming, and other (diversified) counties, has fallen farther behind in income migration. Consequently, selective migration to areas of natural beauty and recreation potential has increasingly transformed the rural New West into its own peculiar geography, distinct in demographics as well as environment from the Old West, revealing a growing spatial inequality between these two areas, especially in income and housing.

Attitudes and Views of Citizens Regarding the Contribution of the Trail Paths in Protection and Promotion of Natural Environment

In recent decades, large sections of trail paths throughout Greece have been maintained, revived, and marked, creating a wide network with a total length of approximately 3500 km. The trail paths are one of the main levers of tourism development as they contribute to the preservation, protection, and promotion of the countryside, cultural heritage, and tradition, to the more effective protection and management of areas of exceptional natural beauty and sensitive ecosystems with wildlife. This paper investigates the view of the citizens of the regional unit of Evros, Greece, on the contribution of the trail paths to the protection and promotion of the cultural and natural environment. The research was conducted with the use of a structured questionnaire and through personal interviews. The data were collected and analyzed with the use of descriptive statistical methods as well as multivariate analysis techniques. The results of the research show that the attitudes of citizens to the contribution of paths in the protection and promotion of the cultural and natural environment are directly or indirectly influenced by various factors. In particular, age directly affects the view of citizens towards the trail paths, with the younger ones having more positive views. Other important predictors of citizens’ views were the type of activity in the trail path, with citizens using them for leisure activities or using the easy roots having more positive views towards them.

A Green Tea Containing Skincare System Improves Skin Health and Beauty in Adults: An Exploratory Controlled Clinical Study

Skin dryness, fine lines and wrinkles, red spots, red vasculature, and porphyrin count are common indicators of skin health and beauty. The skincare system in this study contains scientifically validated ingredients such as fermented green tea (Camellia sinensis) water, niacinamide, antioxidants, and a variety of natural plant extracts. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this skincare system in improving facial-skin health and beauty. Twenty-six healthy adults, both female and male, aged 18–54 and of all skin types and tones, were included in the study and participated as either the active or the control group (competitor product) using designated topical products for 30 days. Skin moisture, fine lines and wrinkles, porphyrin count, red spots, and red vasculature count were measured through high-quality photography, Visia® complexion analysis, FitSkin® skin analysis, and survey questions on day 0, day 8, and day 30. Significant improvements were observed in facial moisture, red-spot count, red vasculature count, and porphyrin count on day 30 in comparison with the control group. Non-significant improvements were observed in pores, skin texture, and wrinkles. With extensive well-documented functional ingredients, the studied skincare system used daily may significantly improve key areas of skin health and beauty.

Performance Analysis Using the Camel Approach Reference to Select Banks in Tamil Nadu during COVID-19 – An Empirical Study

The series of a thriftiness is unfathomably reliant upon organization as well as ideal utilization of cash safes and most extreme to a great extent practical capacity of the beautiful areas, of which the financial area has a genuinely imperative influence. The financial area helps in the incitement of capital compliance, creation, and adaptation notwithstanding the assistance of monetary approach. It's basic to exactly gauge and take apart the presentation of banks to guarantee a solid financial framework and a powerful moderation. surveying the Indian financial area is definitely not a simple errand. There are so various variables, which should be dealt with while secerning great banks from awful bones. To assess the presentation of the financial area we've picked the CAMEL model since it estimates the exhibition of banks from every one of the significant boundaries like Capital Adequacy, implies Quality, Management Efficiency, Earning Quality, and Liquidity. The current review centers around the assessment of the presentation of two public area banks in Tamil Nadu. The information of the example banks for a three-time frame period from 2019-2021 has been gathered from the intermittent reports of the banks.

Evaluation of the suitability of marine tourism in the Mandeh Archipelago, West Sumatra

Indonesia has a huge potential in the development of marine tourism, because it has many islands and very beautiful coastal areas. The Mandeh area has enormous potential in developing marine tourism, due to its beautiful coastal areas and islands. The purpose of this study was to evaluate land suitability and determine constraints for the development of marine tourism in the Mandeh area. To determine the evaluation of land suitability using the Geographical Information System (GIS) method using ten indicators, namely: depth, beach type, beach width, basic material, current velocity, coastal independence, beach brightness, land use, hazardous biota, and availability of fresh water. Furthermore, to determine the constraints using the Interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM) method, the ISM method involves stakeholders from tourism experts, community leaders, tourism businesses, local governments. The results of research on the evaluation of the land suitability of marine tourism in the Mandeh area are mostly or about 35% very suitable (S1) for marine tourism, while the unsuitable area (N) is only 20% of the total area. Based on the analysis of the obstacles to developing marine tourism in the Mandeh area, namely the lack of investment capital and professional personnel in the development of marine tourism.

Forty Years of Wildland Urban Interface Growth and Its Relation With Wildfires in Central-Western Chubut, Argentina

Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas are rapidly expanding worldwide. In many regions of the world, this expansion could be explained by the increasing possibilities of telecommuting and developing home-office work, while at the same time living in, or surrounded by wilderness areas of magnificent beauty. However, growth and development of these WUIs are still not well dimensioned and regulated, especially in fire prone ecosystems. Over the last two decades, an increasingly number of megafires occurred in these WUI areas in different regions of the world. Recently, big megafires occurred in WUIs located around towns in the western Andean-Patagonian region of Argentina. In this study, we analyzed the evolution of the WUI and its relationship with wildfires around cities and towns located in the northwestern part of Chubut province of Argentina. The studied region covers 324,823 ha and includes the cities of Esquel and Trevelin, and other small villages. Our objectives were to (i) map the current WUI, (ii) quantify changes occurred in the WUI in the last 40 years around the main cities of the region, and (iii) analyze the relationships among WUIs, vegetation types, and wildfire occurrence. We mapped the distribution of WUI using spatially explicit information on housing density derived from censuses and high-resolution imagery from 1981/1982 and 2021, and land cover data. The current WUI covered 8% of the study area, however it has 97% of the houses. Between 1981 and 2021, the WUI area increased by 80%, especially in the southern part of our study region. Finally, information on wildfires distribution revealed that 65% of the ignition points of the recent fires in the region occurred within the WUI. Most of the vegetation burned were herbs, sub-shrubs and woodlands. WUI expansion in our study area appears to be constrained by terrain features (slopes and accessibility), but not by vegetation characteristics. Our study suggests that continuing, unplanned housing expansion in wilderness areas without appropriate vegetation management will likely increases wildfire risk and human environmental conflicts further. Effective land use planning and wildfire management are crucial for sustainable housing expansion in western Patagonia.

Decision Pattern for Changing Polluted Areas into Recreational Places

There are many enclaves in the Mediterranean basin with soils contaminated with heavy metal(loid)s, most of these in natural areas of great beauty that have suffered the consequences of industrial and mining activity for years. These soils pose a risk to human and animal health due to the transfer of metal(loid)s condemning these areas to isolation. The rehabilitation by means of phytoremediation is one of the most used techniques, but phytoremediation must be part of a comprehensive strategy of steps that guide owners and administrations in the recovery of ecosystem services. An easily replicable decision-making methodology is defined, considering the initial conditions, the preferences of the decision makers or typologies from among six possibilities and the different models of use, typified in 13 categories. As a result, a landscape is obtained that integrates phytostabilization and areas with recreational and/or educational uses. Two case studies from the southeast of Spain are presented as validation, a deposit of mining sludge residues and the channel of a river contaminated by industrial discharges. Both enclaves are included in the tourist and cultural offer of their area, thus achieving an environmental and socioeconomic benefit and have been visited by more than 1000 people in a two-year period.

Exploring Public Recognition and Perceived Cultural Value of the Special Qualities within English Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

As both the concept of ‘landscape’ and ‘beauty’ have very perceptual definitions, they must be assessed by large groups to be appropriately addressed. Therefore, amid a review of AONB designation, cultural perceptions of what is valuable within these designated areas is of paramount importance. Ecosystem services have gained traction as a way to assign social value to the non-physical benefits landscape can provide. AONB landscapes have a list of ‘special qualities’ (SQs) which are the features and characteristics of this area that warrant its protection. This study looks at the extent to which SQs reflect public values. Multiple methods including photo elicitation, participatory mapping, in-person surveys and social media data analysis have been used. The study suggests that when presented with the same landscape there is huge diversity as to what should be considered ‘special’. There is a general preference of landscape heterogeneity, therefore no one SQ could be more important than any of the others if considered in isolation. SQs that have a tangible link to the cultural ecosystem services they provide, were most appreciated. All methods used had their own benefits and flaws, hence future research should use a combination of methods to address perception issues.