This document provides an overview of outdoor recreation. It begins with learning objectives which are to define outdoor recreation, understand reasons for participation, identify common activities, recognize benefits, and understand principles for minimizing environmental impact. Popular land, water, and air activities are listed. Benefits are physical, psycho-emotional, social, economic, and spiritual. The document concludes with assessing physical fitness for activities and explaining the "Leave No Trace" principles for minimizing human impact.

1. Nature and
Background of
Outdoor Recreation

2. Learning Objectives
1. To define outdoor recreation
2. To understand the reasons why people, engage in outdoor
recreation.
3. To enumerate the common outdoor recreational activities.
4. To recognize the benefits of engaging in outdoor recreation.
5. To recognize the significance of adhering to the “Leave No
Trace Seven Principles” while engaging in outdoor recreation

3. Outdoor Recreation
03
Popular outdoor
recreational activities
02
04 Benefits of outdoor
recreation
Reasons why engage
outdoor recreation
activity
TABLE OF CONTENTS
01
05 06Questions to assess
Physical fitness
Leave no trace principle

4. WHAT IS OUTDOOR
RECREATION
Outdoor recreation is organized activities
done during one’s free time for his/her
own personal reasons, where an
interaction between man and an
element of nature is present.

5. Reasons why
engage outdoor
recreation activity
• Personal satisfaction and enjoyment.
• To be in touch with nature, which they rarely
have the chance to do, especially for those who
reside in highly urbanized areas.
• Many do it for personal pursuit such as
photography.
• Whatever reason there may be, people engage
in outdoor recreation for their own sake and
pleasure, voluntarily, and of their own choice.

6. POPULAR OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
LAND WATER AIR

7. Mountaineering
Trekking/Hiking
Camping
Backpacking
Picnic
Bird-watching
Mountain Biking
Orienteering
Canyoneering
Rock Climbing
LAND

8. Swimming
Snorkeling
Diving
Surfing
Canoeing
Kayaking
Whitewater Rafting
Sailing
Fishing
Bamboo Rafting
WATER

9. Parasailing
Skydiving
Paragliding
AIR

10. BENEFITS OF OUTDOOR RECREATION
PHYSICAL PSYCHO-EMOTIONAL
SOCIAL ECONIMIC
SPIRITUAL

11. Physical Benefits
 It allows people to move,
whether by walking, running,
swimming, biking, paddling,
etc.
 Movements expend energy,
promote cardiovascular and
muscular fitness, and improve
the function of the immune
system.

12. Psycho-Emotional
Benefits
 Engaging in outdoor recreational
activities helps people to rest, relax, de-
stress or unwind, and feel revitalized.
 Being outdoors also improves self-
esteem, confidence, and creativity.
 Outdoor recreational activities
contribute to a person’s personal and
spiritual growth.

13. Social Benefits
 Outdoor activities are ways for
families to become closer
through family-bonding
activities.
 Spending time outdoors also
allows a person to meet and
interact with others who share
the same passion for outdoor
recreation.

14. Economic Benefits
 People who have a relaxed body and
mind tend to be more productive at
work, translating into efficiency at
the workplace.
 Ecotourism creates jobs and other
economic activities which can, one
way or another, contribute to
economic growth.

15. Spiritual Benefits
 Being one with nature brings certain
calmness within a person.
 Being one with nature strengthens an
individual as it heals, rejuvenates, and
soothes the body and soul.

16. ARE YOU
PHYSICALLY
FIT?

17. Do You Need to Be Athletic to Be Able to
Participate in Outdoor Activities?
 No need to be physically fit. Outdoor recreation
involves a lot of physical activity, but it does not
require you to have athletic level of skills to be
able to participate.
 However, you need to be physically fit to be
able to carry out the activity.

18. Questions That Can Help
Assess Your Physical Fitness
Are you able to carry out your day-to-day tasks as a student with
alertness and vigor without undue fatigue?
If not, then perhaps you need to rethink.
 Have you been spending too much time with your gadgets?
 Has your body been getting enough rest and sleep?
 What about your nutrition and eating habits, have you been
dependent on fast food, chips, and sodas?
 Are you eating on time?
 Have you been heavily stressed with school/work?

19. The “Leave No Trace
Seven Principles”
Principles

20. Principle 1: Plan Ahead and Prepare
 Before going to a place, check if your planned activity is permitted. Make
sure to know the rules, guidelines, and safety procedures they have set.
 Make sure you have the needed equipment for your activity and the skills
needed to undertake the activity.
 Plan how to cope in case emergency arises.
 Check the weather forecast and be prepared for changing weather
conditions.
 To minimize environmental impact and for safety reasons, keep group
numbers small.
 Repack food to minimize waste.
 When trekking, maps and compass must be used to avoid markings or
leaving of marks on rocks and the like.

21. Principle 2: Travel and Camp on Durable
Surfaces
 Walk, run, bike, or camp on durable surfaces like established tracks,
rocks, gravel, and dry grasses.
 Avoid walking on soft surfaces like soft plants. You might be
trampling on a young tree or pasture and this will cause vegetation
damage.
 Use existing trails or campsites; no need to build a new campsite
that will alter the environment.
 To avoid erosion, walk in single file in the middle of the trail.
 Avoid places where impacts are just beginning to show.
 When camping, keep the campsite small and discreet.
 Camp at least 200 feet from lakes and rivers to protect the waters.

22. Principle 3: Dispose of Waste Properly
 “Pack it in, pack it out” means everything you
brought should be brought back with you including
left-over food or fruit peel. Nothing should be left.
 When camping, cat holes are dug (6–8 inches deep)
for human waste and covered just the same with soil
and weeds or leaves on top.

23. Principle 4: Leave What You Find
 Examine archeological structures, old walls, and other
heritage artifacts but do not touch nor leave marks on
them.
 Leave nature as you found them. Do not take any plant,
rock, or marine animal with you.
 Avoid introducing non-native plants and animals.
 Do not build structures or furniture or dig trenches.

24. Principle 5: Minimize Campfire Impacts
 Use lightweight stove for cooking; campfires can cause lasting
impacts.
 If fires are permitted, use fire rings or mound fires that are
already set-up.
 Keep fires small and use only sticks from the ground than can
be broken by hand.
 Never burn plastics or other substances that emit toxic fumes.
 Burn all wood to ash and make sure fires are completely out.
Scatter the cool ash.

25. Principle 6: Respect Wildlife
 Observe wild animals from a distance and they should be avoided
during sensitive times such as mating, nesting, or raising the young.
 Do not feed wild animals or birds as it is not their natural food. The
food might damage their health or alter their natural behaviors and
even expose them to predators.
 Protect wildlife and protect your food as well by storing and securing
the trash well.
 In case you decide to bring your pets along, make sure it is allowed
and you can control them. Otherwise, do not bring them with you.

26. Principle 7: Be Considerate of Other
Visitors
 Respect people who live and work in the countryside.
 Respect other visitors and let them have a momentous
experience as well.
 Allow the sound of nature to prevail, not your noise or your
radio.
 Be courteous; yield to others on a trail.
 Camp away from trails and other visitors.

27. THANK YOU