‘Quiet Parks’ Highlight Importance of Silence for Public Health

A nonprofit organization is working to raise awareness about the importance of silence and to preserve places that offer quiet respite from everyday noise pollution. Writing in Reasons to Be Cheerful, Jennifer Cole outlines the mission of Quiet Parks International (QPI), which aims “to save quiet for the benefit of all life is part of a broader effort to combat the increasing noise of our world.”

A growing body of research indicates that excessive noise can have serious harmful health impacts, affecting everything from hearing to high blood pressure. One researcher from the University of British Columbia developed a pilot project dubbed Silent Trails that created two “acoustically protected trails” in the Vancouver parks system. “Her requirements were stringent: no dogs, no bicycles, no nearby construction — and they had to be fully accessible to the public. Once she’d chosen the trails, signs were posted encouraging users to listen closely to sounds such as bird calls and the wind through the trees.”

Through its ‘noise awards’ program that identifies and maps particularly quiet places, QPI hopes to draw awareness to the need for spaces where people can enjoy the subtler sounds of nature. To date, it has identified eight parks that qualify for their more stringent “Wilderness Quiet Park” certification. “While certification as a Wilderness Quiet Park doesn’t automatically shield an area from noise intrusion, the visibility and awareness that it generates does make it harder for landowners and managers to justify actions that could disturb the natural silence.” The organization also recognizes quiet oases within urban centers, such as Philadelphia’s Bartram Garden.