Researchers Place $6 Trillion Value On Mental Health Benefits Provided By Protected Areas. There's a hefty economic value to getting outdoors in national parks and other protected areas when it comes to mental healthcare/Kurt Repanshek file It's often noted that getting out into nature is good for the soul, both from physical and mental health standpoints.
A team of researchers in Australia has put a dollar figure on the mental health benefits, saying that protected areas such as national parks around the world provide $6 trillion in benefits. "Nature exposure improves human mental health and wellbeing. Poor mental health imposes major costs on human economies. Therefore, parks have an additional economic value through the mental health of visitors," they write in the abstract to their paper, Economic Value of Protected Areas Via Visitor Mental Health. Norwegian hospitals add woodland cabins and forest-play for healing. The Outdoor Care Retreats let nature give a valuable boost in creating a respite from the sterile and stringent hospital environment.
We are fortunate to have hospitals – but they are not the most inspired places. They are stark and sterile, they have strict rules and not much soul. They may do wonders for corporeal concerns – but the more we learn about the importance of emotional well-being as it relates to good physical health, the more it seems that the hospital environment is lacking. In Norway, however, they have taken this to heart and are exploring a workaround with young patients in mind – they have found a way to let nature help. The health benefits of spending time outside have been proven again and again, so why not let sick children have some time amongst the trees? Bushwalking is really good for you. Sure, it's relaxing — but it boosts your biology too - Science News - ABC News. Need a quick pick-me-up?
Get back to nature. Not only will a walk in the park rejuvenate, calm and clear your mind, but it also lowers diabetes and heart disease risk, improves mental health and prolongs life. Theconversation. The summer break is well underway.
The weather is warming and kids are getting used to some time away from school. Parents, meanwhile, are trying to find ways to keep the kids entertained over the break. Chances are you remember your own childhood summers full of adventures outdoors in some plot of green near your home. A Melbourne Natural Playground Named Australia’s Best Playground. A Melbourne children's playground designed to encourage risk-taking - through rocky outcropped terraces and lofty climbing ropes - has been crowned the nation's best.
It is known as Nature Play and sits in Royal Park, next to the Royal Children's Hospital. It was designed to help kids - inner city ones especially, who were spending so little time in nature - find an element of unpredictable play. School's Out: Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten. School's Out: Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten. Why a walk in the woods really does help your body and your soul. Have you ever wondered why you feel healthier and happier when you stroll through the trees or frolic by the sea?
Is it just that you’re spending time away from work, de-stressing and taking in the view? Or is there more to it? For more than 20 years, scientists have been trying to determine the mechanisms by which exposure to biodiversity improves health. Hug a tree – the evidence shows it really will make you feel better. We know that trees have many benefits.
In forests they provide habitat, wood, biodiversity and ecosystem services. In cities, they can mitigate the urban heat island effect by cooling the air and reducing greenhouse gases. But, perhaps surprisingly, there is increasing evidence that trees are also good for our mental health. Are we all tree-huggers? The idea that humans are intimately connected to the earth has persisted throughout human history and across cultures. Hug a tree – the evidence shows it really will make you feel better. Written by Shelby Gull Laird We know that trees have many benefits.
In forests they provide habitat, wood, biodiversity and ecosystem services. In cities, they can mitigate the urban heat island effect by cooling the air and reducing greenhouse gases. But, perhaps surprisingly, there is increasing evidence that trees are also good for our mental health. National Museum of Mathematics. Theconversation. [ WILD ONES ] - Jon Mooallem - The Internet Page! Beatrix Potter, Mycologist: The Beloved Children’s Book Author’s Little-Known Scientific Studies and Illustrations of Mushrooms. Spiritual Ecology & Universal Sufism. Manningham City Council. Walking is Manningham's most popular recreation activity because: It's a great way to be activeIt's freeIt's a more social way of travellingYou can do it anywhere at any timeYou don't need any equipment other than a pair of shoesIt's a sustainable way of getting aroundIt doesn't matter your age, pace, whether you're on your own or in a group, heading somewhere or nowhere in particularIt's the best value form of exercise for the prevention (and cure) of many major health problems including obesity, diabetes, cardio-vascular disease and more.
For more information, visit the Victoria Walks "WhyWalk" webpage. Walking Guides We have prepared a new suite of walking guides that showcases the city’s wealth of natural, historical, cultural and environmental assets. Offering walks from Bulleen to Wonga Park and everywhere in between, the guides include detailed maps as well as interesting and informative notes to enhance your walking experience. Guidebook - Kids in Nature Australia. Noise pollution is making us oblivious to the sound of nature, says researcher. The tranquil chorus of the natural world is in danger of being lost to today’s generation as people screen out the noises that surround them, a senior US researcher warns.
Rising levels of background noise in some areas threaten to make people oblivious to the uplifting sounds of birdsong, trickling water, and trees rustling in the wind, which can often be heard even in urban centres, said Kurt Fristrup, a senior scientist at the US National Park Service. The problem was exacerbated by people listening to iPods through their earphones instead of tuning in to the birds and other sounds of nature that can easily be drowned out by traffic, music and others noises, he said.
“This learned deafness is a real issue,” Fristrup told the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in San Jose. AABAT Inc. Can you put a price on the beauty of the natural world? Welcome To OASES. Spiritual Ecology. Spiritual Ecology. Alaska's indigenous game Never Alone teaches co-operation through stories. Kids these days, eh? Theconversation. We are living in a time of extraordinary ecological loss. Not only are human actions destabilising the very conditions that sustain life, but it is also increasingly clear that we are pushing the Earth into an entirely new geological era, often described as the Anthropocene.
Research shows that people increasingly feel the effects of these planetary changes and associated ecological losses in their daily lives, and that these changes present significant direct and indirect threats to mental health and well-being. Climate change, and the associated impacts to land and environment, for example, have recently been linked to a range of negative mental health impacts, including depression, suicidal ideation, post-traumatic stress, as well as feelings of anger, hopelessness, distress, and despair. We believe ecological grief is a natural, though overlooked, response to ecological loss, and one that is likely to affect more of us into the future. TreeHugger. Last weekend I went on a camping trip with my family to Gatineau Park in Québec. The first night went well, but then the rain came. Unfortunately the tent I bought at a garage sale for five bucks failed to keep us dry (not surprising), and we all woke up miserable in a pool of water. Why treehouses are all the rage in children's books.
Sorry, gym rats: Why exercising outside may be better for your health. Health Advisor is a regular column where contributors share their knowledge in fields ranging from fitness to psychology, pediatrics to aging. Follow us @Globe_Health. Nature Playgrounds. How green cities are better for us physically and psychologically.