The socioeconomic dimension of forest therapy: A contribution to human well-being and sustainable forest management

Abstract

Forests provide a variety of ecosystem services that contribute in various ways to human well-being. In times of land-use pressures, urbanisation, and nature degradation, the societal demand for forest-based therapeutic uses is increasing. Although nature-related therapies and the beneficial effects of nature on health and well-being are an old concept in cultures such as Asia and, more recently, Europe, forest therapy offers are increasingly taking hold in the forest recreation landscape. This Commentary paper identifies recent forest therapy offers and research in Asia and Europe that focus on the therapeutic effects of forests and examine their underlying rationales, practices, and status. In particular, we elaborate the socioeconomic potential of forest therapy to contribute to human health and sustainable forest management. Based on a scoping review on forest therapy offers and research, we found that countries such as Japan and South Korea are ahead of European countries in the professionalization of forest therapy offers and respective studies. While the number of studies that demonstrate the positive health benefits of forests are increasing, there is a lack of understanding the link with forest management approaches and forest and health policies. A lack of socioeconomic evaluation hinders its successful integration into policy frameworks, and prevents its use as an alternative forestry product or preventive medical treatment. For forest therapy to become part of the forestry portfolio and a medical alternative, we recommend:

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  Interdisciplinary research approaches and new actor alliances that link societal demands for forest therapy with insights from forest management and medical health research,
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  Transdisciplinary research and multi-actor approaches to link insights from forest and medical research with practitioners’ skills for forest management, service design, and communication,
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  To identify trade-offs and conflict potentials with forest therapy, for example in relation to timber production or questions of insurance in case of injuries by falling branches etc., that allow to develop integrated and sustainable solutions,
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  Policy backup and economic support for forest managers and owners to compensate for their efforts to manage their forests for therapeutic purposes
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  Recognition of forest therapy as an explicit part of the forestry portfolio and an alternative medical offer for clinical treatments.