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 for the first episode of our brand-new podcast: TalkLandscape. Explore how forests benefit our wellbeing and mental health, and discover how urban forests can contribute to creating a healthier future.
We’re 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.
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Meet our speakers:
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.
An urban forest encompasses any trees and vegetation growing within a city area. However, its definition can differ significantly across regions and countries. In European countries, it broadly includes any trees in urban areas, often extending to woodlands. In the United States, urban forests may include street trees and trees found in private areas like backyard gardens.
Urban forests don’t have to be a single, connected space — they can be segmented by urban infrastructure like roads — but efforts are often made to connect them through “green corridors” to create a more cohesive urban forest network.
Preecha Ongprasert, Director of Forestry Foreign Affairs Office of the Royal Forest Department, said: “We can see a lot of examples within developed countries like Singapore, where they are trying to connect all the city parks together. And in Thailand, we also link the green areas together using green corridors.”
Urban forests provide a multitude of environmental, health, social and economic benefits.
They are crucial for climate mitigation, for example by reducing the heat island effect in cities. Urban forests can also contribute to biodiversity by providing habitats for various species.
Spending time in green spaces has been linked to various physical and mental health benefits. Tara Tiger Brown, UBC Forestry, said: “Spending time in green spaces and forests can improve mood, reduce depression and offer reduced heart rate and blood pressure, so improve cardiovascular health.”
Urban forests can also act as vital ‘third places’, fostering community cohesion by offering spaces for people to socialize and interact, potentially reducing loneliness.
“Something that’s not really discussed a lot is the epidemic of loneliness that many people are facing in cities,” said Brown. Urban forests can fight this, and help to “create sort of social cohesion,” she continued.
Economically, urban forests can contribute to local economies through sustainable tourism. The specific benefits often depend on the local context.
Traditional and Indigenous knowledge offers invaluable guidance for reimagining cities as living, breathing ecosystems rather than disconnected built environments. Some Indigenous cultures view humans as an integral part of nature, not separate from it.
Diwigdi Valiente, climate activist, said: “For us, for Indigenous people, we are part of nature and we don’t see us as something apart from it. So we wouldn’t hurt it because it would be like hurting ourselves or hurting a family member.”
Integrating this ancestral wisdom into urban planning can foster a sense of “nature connectedness” among city dwellers, encouraging sustainable practices and promoting a more harmonious relationship with urban green spaces.
Reconnecting with nature in daily life doesn’t require vast forests; it can happen in small, intentional ways. The key is to actively engage with it using all senses. Some practices include:
The emphasis is on bringing the natural environment to the foreground of your attention rather than a mere background setting.
Finally…
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