Since time immemorial, forests have helped us to heal <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
I am a scientist, not a poet, and I have been investigating the science behind that feeling for many years. Some people study forests. Some people study medicine. I study forest medicine, to find out all the ways these environments improve our well being. Until recently, there was little scientific evidence to support what we have always known about the healing power of the forest. It was not until 2004\u2014when I, with others, founded the Forest Therapy Study Group\u2014that scientific investigation into this matter began in earnest. Since then, I have been researching the beneficial effects of these wild green spaces on human health by studying shinrin-yoku<\/em> (\u68ee\u6797\u6d74). Shinrin<\/em> (\u68ee\u6797) means \u201cforest\u201d in Japanese, and yoku<\/em> (\u6d74) means \u201cbath.\u201d Shinrin-yoku<\/em> is \u201cbathing in the forest atmosphere\u201d or, as it is more often translated, forest-bathing. Forest-bathing is not exercise, nor is it an esoteric meditative practice. It is simply being<\/em>, connecting with the forest through all our senses.<\/p>\n
Over the last 17 years, I have discovered that exposure to nature is as vital to our well-being as regular exercise and a healthy diet. That immersion in green spaces can help to boost our immune systems, lower blood pressure and heart rate, aid sleep, improve mood and energy levels, lift depression, sharpen cognitive processes, and increase anticancer protein production. Outside my own work, a growing body of evidence shows that greater exposure to nature can also lead to a lower likelihood of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, asthma hospitalization, mental ill-health, childhood myopia, and, ultimately, death. In an eight-year study of over 100,000 women in the United States, those with the most vegetation around their homes had a 12 per cent lower death rate than those living in the least green areas (even adjusting for risk factors, such as age, ethnicity, smoking, and socioeconomic status). In a study of Tokyo residents aged 75 to 90, those with plentiful green space and street trees in their neighborhoods had a 74 per cent likelihood of survival over a five-year period, versus just 66 per cent for those with very little nearby greenery.<\/p>\n

Exposure to nature is as vital to our well-being as regular exercise and a healthy diet <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
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With its astounding benefits, forest-bathing is becoming a focus of public attention in Japan<\/a>. It is now recognized as both a therapeutic activity and a method of preventing disease and promoting health. Slowly, acknowledgement of nature as medicine is catching on worldwide. Doctors from New Zealand to Scotland have begun to prescribe \u201cgreen prescriptions,\u201d such as listening to birdsong or taking a walk in a natural environment. The \u201cNature Prescriptions\u201d calendar, created by RSPB Scotland in partnership with NHS Shetland, suggests daily activities such as \u201cStep outside\u2014be still for three minutes and listen,\u201d and to \u201cReally look at a lichen.\u201d Creating and improving public pockets of greenery\u2014especially in neighborhoods whose residents already face high health risks\u2014would be a simple, powerful, practical public health intervention that would help to prevent and mitigate health inequalities.<\/p>\n

With its astounding benefits, forest-bathing is becoming a focus of public attention <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Forests occupy 68 per cent of the land in Japan, meaning forest-bathing is accessible to those who can afford the time and expense of the trip. But, with our busy lifestyles, and unequal societies, we shouldn\u2019t expect people to make a journey to receive nature\u2019s tonic. Instead, we must bring the best of the forest environment into people\u2019s habitats. Doing so not only provides all the well-being benefits I\u2019ve explained, but also presents additional benefits in urban contexts: urban trees remove tons of pollution, store tons of carbon and help mitigate extreme temperatures. Their root systems absorb water and help with excess rainfall. They provide respite and relief from noise and dirt. Trees are a vital and integral part of our urban lives, as important a part of a city\u2019s infrastructure as roads and broadband\u2014and much more beautiful than either.<\/p>\n
Clearly, there are vital benefits to being immersed in an ecologically rich, verdant environment, and I expect many more will be discovered. To quell the stress epidemic of our times, and avoid countless other easily preventable harms, we must protect people\u2019s right to have contact with nature \u2014 and bring the power of the forest to everyone.<\/p>\n
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Extracted from Nature Is A Human Right<\/a>: Why We\u2019re Fighting for Green in a Grey World<\/em>, by Ellen Miles. Text taken as an extract from The Secret Power Of The Forest: From A Feeling To A Science<\/em> by Professor Qing Li, MD, PhD.<\/p>\n
Nature Is A Human Right<\/em> is published by DK and is out now.<\/p>\n
@natureisahumanright<\/a> @dkbooks<\/a><\/p>\n