Human Health and Sustainable Forest Management

Zvolen

2019

169 S.

Monographie

17629BU

203908

The study “Human Health and Sustainable Forest Management” was prepared by the team of authors led by the FOREST EUROPE Expert Group on Human Health and Well-being established in the framework of the FOREST EUROPE Work Programme 2016-2020. Members of the Expert group helped to shape scope and focus of the publication as well as to collect good practise examples from several European countries. Implementation of the Work Programme is supported mostly by governments of Slovakia, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Turkey, but also by voluntary financial or in-kind contribution of other countries and organisations who nominated their experts to the Expert Group. Special thanks go to the authors of the publication: Ľudmila Marušáková (FOREST EUROPE –Liaison Unit Bratislava), Markus Sallmannshofer and Franziska Krainer (Austrian Research Centre for Forests, Austria), Liisa Tyrväinen (LUKE - Natural Resources Institute Finland), Liz O’Brien (Forest Research, United Kingdom), Nicole Bauer (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Switzerland)), Jan Kašpar (Czech University of Life Sciences), Matej Schwarz (National Forest Centre, Slovakia), Dirk Schmechel (Bavarian State Institute of forestry, Germany). In addition to that, technical support of the Liaison Unit Bratislava members, namely assistance provided by Igor Viszlai and Lucia Ambrušová, contributed significantly to the finalization of the study.European society is currently becoming influenced by global trends and demographic changes: rapid urbanisation, globalisation, digitalisation, ageing of the population as well as a sedentary and stressful modern lifestyles. Urbanisation is often associated not only with mental stress, but also with physical threats and adverse environmental exposure, such as noise and air pollution. Nervousness, stress and burnout as well as associated physical diseases are serious issues of the times we live in. Contemporary lifestyles bring a large reduction in occupational, domestic, and transportation-related physical activity on the one hand, combined with changes in dietary intake on the other which has led to high rates of obesity and associated health risks. Many associated physical and mental diseases, depression, obesity and diabetes are becoming severe civilisation diseases today. Increasing numbers of urban dwellers do not have easy access and contact with forests and other natural areas that is fundamental to human health and well-being. These factors influence the quality of life and health care costs; it is apparent that these trends will continue in the future. It seems that current health care systems alone cannot solve these problems. In some countries, e.g. in Scotland, doctors now can prescribe spending time in nature to help patients with conditions from depression to diabetes. Recently, the potential of natural spaces including forests in enhancing human health and well-being has been recognised in a new way. In consequence, at a European level there is a need for new types of inter-sectorial policies and a stronger focus on the use and the creation of health-promoting environments that encourage physical activity, active transport and healthy living environments and workplaces.Impacts of forests on human health and wellbeing ; Human Health and Sustainable Forest Management; Health benefits of forests: opportunities for the forest sector ;