Forests, Trees and Human Health

2011 Hartig, Terry, Agnes van den Berg, Caroline Hägerhäll, Marek Tomalak, Nicole Bauer, Ralf Hansmann, Ann Ojala, Efi Syngollitou, Giuseppe Carrus, Ann van Herzele, Simon Bell, Marie Therese Camilleri Podesta & Grete Waaseth, "Health benefits of nature experience: Psychological, social and cultural processes", s. 127–168; van Herzele, Ann, Simon Bell, Terry Hartig, Marie Therese Camilleri Podesta & Ronald van Zon, "Health benefits of nature experience: The challenge of linking practice and research", s. 169–182; Bell, Simon, Ronald van Zon, Ann van Herzele & Terry Hartig, "Health benefits of nature experience: Implications of practice for research", s. 183–202 in Nilsson, Kjell, Marcus Sangster, Christos Gallis, Terry Hartig, Sjerp de Vries, Klaus Seeland & Jasper Schipperijn (eds), Forests, trees, and human health. Dordrecht: Springer.

About this book
The link between modern lifestyles and increasing levels of chronic heart disease, obesity, stress and poor mental health is a concern across the world. The cost of dealing with these conditions places a large burden on national public health budgets so that policymakers are increasingly looking at prevention as a cost-effective alternative to medical treatment. Attention is turning towards interactions between the environment and lifestyles. Exploring the relationships between health, natural environments in general, and forests in particular, this groundbreaking book is the outcome of the European Union's COST Action E39 'Forests, Trees and Human Health and Wellbeing', and draws together work carried out over four years by scientists from 25 countries working in the fields of forestry, health, environment and social sciences. While the focus is primarily on health priorities defined within Europe, this volume explicitly draws also on research from North America and elsewhere and will have relevance worldwide. A state-of-the-art analysis of the global research on the topic of forests and human health, a key contribution of the book is its synthesis of material across both disciplines and nations, providing a vital reference for researchers in forestry, health, natural resource management and environmental policy. Currently the only unified body of work on this topic, the book will also be an important tool for those working in both health and environment policy and practice.
 
Keywords: Forests – Horticultural therapy – Human health – Nature experience – Urban forestry