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 ;
