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Wellness Generated by Silence The silent areas of so called peace of nature are significant from human wellness, recreation, comfort, and among others natural tourism point of view. Silence generates extra values and is a significant attraction factor. Nature also needs the silence, though it does produce certain sounds itself. Therefore, the silence of nature does not mean any full silence, rather it does include different sounds of nature's own, such as the song of birds, the sound of rushing water or that of rustling wind. These sounds are certainly not, anyhow, found unpleasant by anyone. Nature's silence and its sounds are a precious component of experiencing nature. This finding is confirmed by the results of the questionnaire survey carried out at Joutsijärvi, according to which the majority of those who had responded prefer silence as a significant reason for selecting to visit this area. Appreciation for Silence Grows Mechanisation of different work tasks as well as the spreading of activities which produce noise have led to this point in history, where there are fewer silent environments to be found, than in earlier eras. Just as noise as problem has been more and more clearly identified has the appreciation for silence grown. Enjoying silent environment and the peace of nature improves sleep quality, resolves stress, and improves concentration. Nowadays, in addition to noise in living and working environment, increased level of spare time noise has also become an addressed issue. The most common source of noise in environment is traffic, and noisy living conditions are becoming increasingly common especially in cities. Listening to the silence in the woods just as at the sauna on the shore forms a strongly implicit part of the Finns' nature-close attitude. This can be derived even from folk poems, in which there are several examples of the silence of nature and the healing power of the peace one can experience in nature. The audio landscape of nature is very varying, especially according to the changing seasons of the year and to the changing weather patterns which strongly differ from one another in Finland. Sensing silence in nature can at its best be quite an experience, since silence not only surrounds one as wrap on the outside, but also does touch one's inner inside. Experiencing nature is an individual event for each and every human being, and everyone has got their individual noise sensitivity. All individuals jointly share, anyhow, the way how nature is experienced through the senses. The sense of sight is a dominant one for people trekking around in nature, but also other senses have got their share in forming how nature is sensed, and hearing among the senses, there, is not the most insignificant one. Whenever withdrawing into a silent area there is motivation of getting detached from the everyday routines, while peace, silence, and concentration on one's own is desired. Nevertheless, people are even in this respect rather individual, for some the attractive factor is the peace of nature, whereas others would prefer hectic night life. The most significant silent area in Satakunta is that of Joutsijärvi, preserved in a beautiful wilderness-like state, situated in Kullaa within Ulvila. This conclusion was derived based both on several questionnaire surveys and on evaluation by experts. Equivalently large areas which are classified as 'silent' occur more and more rarely in Finland, even though the issue of noise problem which is considered rather damaging has been more and more addressed publicly in recent years. At Lake Joutsijärvi One Can Experience The Silence Of Nature Joutsijärvi is classified as one of the areas of peace of nature within Satakunta. This means, that within the audio landscape of this area sounds generated by nature are dominant, whereas sounds formed by human activities occur only randomly and have minor impact. At this lake, Joutsijärvi and in its vicinity, there still is a chance to enjoy the silence of nature and to experience the peace of nature. This lake is famous for its stock of daytime predator birds, and on the hiking trails penetrating the forests one can hear a lot of small birds. Being so, the area of Joutsijärvi offers those who live in a world everyday noise an important opportunity for rehabilitation and recreation as well as for spare time activities in nature. Muscle-Powered Transportation On and Around Joutsijärvi Joutsijärvi is situated in Kullaa within Ulvila. This lake has a surface area of about 840 hectares. Tuurujärvi, a lake attached to it has about another 140 ha. These lakes and the woodlands surrounding them form one of the largest recreation areas within Satakunta, consisting of about 1,800 ha. The distance to this area from Pori is about 27 km, and from Tampere some 80 km. Around Joutsijärvi there leads an about 27 km-long marked hiking trail, which is attached to the vast, 360-kilometer-long Satakunta-Pirkanmaa hiking trail network. Service provision range along the hiking trail stages around Joutsijärvi is good, and there are several well-managed wilderness cottages, open sheds as well as other pause places available for hikers. Banning the use of water vehicles which mount engine in the year of 1982 has probably been the most significant factor from the perspective of preserving the natural peace within the recreation area of Joutsijärvi. The area has indeed turned into a paradise for canoeists, paddlers, and hikers who all rely on muscle power. Translated from Finnish to English by Volford Péter. Sources:
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