An experiment in Finnish forests claims to demonstrate that long-term sick people staying in the forest can get healthier faster than those who stay in urban areas.
The “Forest and Health” project, which examined the relationship between forest curative effects on sick leave, has started building a scientific basis to prove forest healing capacity.
The initial pilot study, conducted in Umeå, focused on a group of 99 people, divided into two sections – one which stayed in the forest twice a week and one which stayed at home or in hospitals.
“According to the questionnaires, patients were asked to complete after their stays in the forest, we see that they feel better after each session,” said Ann Döllling, senior lecturer in the Department of Forest Ecology and Management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
State forester Sveaskog is the project’s largest funder.
“The forest is so much more than just a raw material bank for sawmills and pulp mills,” said Ann-Britt Edfast, R&D manager at Sveaskog. “We see here a possibility that the forest can also be a place for green rehabilitation.”
