Forests, Trees and Human Health and Well-being: Introduction; Urban Forests and Their Ecosystem Services in Relation to Human Health; Forest Products with Health-Promoting and Medicinal Properties; Negative Aspects and Hazardous Effects of Forest Environment on Human Health; Health Benefits of Nature Experience: Psychological, Social and Cultural Processes; Health Benefits of Nature Experience: The Challenge of Linking Practice and Research; Health Benefits of Nature Experience: Implications of Practice for Research; Contributions of Natural Environments to Physical Activity; Natural Elements and Physical Activity in Urban Green Space Planning and Design; Motivating People to Be Physically Active in Green Spaces; Nature-Based Therapeutic Interventions; Outdoor Education, Life Long Learning and Skills Development in Woodlands and Green Spaces: The Potential Links to Health and Well-Being; Measuring Health Benefits of Green Space in Economic Terms; Postscript: Landscapes and Health as Representations of Cultural Diversity. 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.
