Greenspace volunteering post-disaster: exploration of themes in motivation, barriers, and benefits from post-hurricane park and garden volunteers

Volunteers are an important resource for green infrastructure, both providing important maintenance, as well as providing education and connection that promotes conservation and ecological work. In addition, volunteering in greenspaces can benefit the individual and the community. However, there may a particular case for volunteering in greenspaces post-disaster in regard to both environmental and community resilience. This study explores post-hurricane volunteering in parks, gardens, and trails to investigate whether this type of volunteering is beneficial and positively described, increasing characteristics that may lead to resilience, in contrast to studies that have found negative associations with post-disaster volunteering. Results based on thematic analysis suggest that volunteers view greenspace volunteering differently from other, people-driven volunteering post-disaster. Short-term, or event, volunteers report positive feelings and outcomes; whereas, only a few long-term, female volunteers reported stress or negative emotions involved with their volunteer experience.