Our lives wouldn’t be the same without forests. They purify air, capture carbon, and provide innumerable ecosystem services worldwide.
But forest ecosystems do more than regulate our global climate – they also offer major benefits to our personal and collective wellbeing.
But how we can harness the benefits of forests if we can’t get to them? More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and that is set to increase by almost 600 million by 2030.
In other words, not everyone has easy access to forests.
Join us on Thursday, 10 April, at 11:00 UTC for the first episode of our brand-new show: TalkLandscape. Explore how forests benefit our wellbeing and mental health, and discover how urban forests can contribute to creating a healthier future.
We’ll be joined by Preecha Ongprasert, chair of the Regional Model Forest Network for Asia, Tara Tiger Brown, a PhD candidate in forestry from the University of British Columbia, and Diwigdi Valiente, founder of Bodhi Hostels and a climate activist from Panama.
Got a hot take on how we can live in greater harmony with forests? Share it on social media using #TalkLandscape.
Preecha Ongprasert has been serving the Royal Forest Department of Thailand for more than 28 years. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in forestry from Kasetsart University in Thailand and a PhD on Urban Forestry from the University of Wales, Bangor, United Kingdom. From 2015 to 2022, he was Chairman of Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation Council (APFNet) and has been the Chairman of the Regional Model Forest Network Asia Council (RMFN-Asia) since 2015.
Tara Tiger Brown holds a PhD in Forestry from the University of British Columbia, where her dissertation research examined forest bathing in urban parks. Brown has since created Silent Trails, a project with Metro Vancouver Regional Parks, and Forestʌr, an augmented reality app for forest bathing. Prior to her doctoral research, Brown held leadership positions at Microsoft and UC Irvine and was a co-founder of environmentally-focused technology startups in California and Japan.
Diwigdi Valiente is an advocate for marine conservation, with a special focus on Indigenous knowledge. Hailing from Guna Yala, Panama, his personal connection to the ocean and Indigenous heritage has allowed him to shape his work as he blends ancestral knowledge with scientific tools to enhance reef resilience in the face of climate challenges. In addition to his conservation work, Diwigdi is the co-founder of Bodhi Hostels, with three locations in Panama.
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