Ecotherapy – A Forgotten Ecosystem Service: A Review

Summers, James K.; Vivian, Deborah N.

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01389

Cited by 82 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 157 publications

(176 reference statements)

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“…It is widely recognized that people derive a broad range of psychological and physiological health benefits from experiencing more natural, “green,” and biodiverse areas, including those near water bodies and coasts (11, 139, 153–159). These health-enhancing effects are key ecosystem services provided by nature (160). However, environmental disasters may reduce or degrade these ecosystem services with concomitant increases in acute, chronic, and cumulative stress in humans and associated negative health outcomes (11, 139, 161).…”

Section: Recommendations To Increase Resiliency To Disasters By Reducmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing Disaster Resilience by Reducing Stress-Associated Health Impacts

Sandifer

Walker²

2018

Front. Public Health

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Disasters are a recurring fact of life, and major incidents can have both immediate and long-lasting negative effects on the health and well-being of people, communities, and economies. A primary goal of many disaster preparedness, response, and recovery plans is to reduce the likelihood and severity of disaster impacts through increased resilience of individuals and communities. Unfortunately, most plans do not address directly major drivers of long-term disaster impacts on humans—that is, acute, chronic, and cumulative stress—and therefore do less to enhance resilience than they could. Stress has been shown to lead to or exacerbate ailments ranging from mental illness, domestic violence, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorders, and suicide to cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems, and other infirmities. Individuals, groups, communities, organizations, and social ties are all vulnerable to stress. Based on a targeted review of what we considered to be key literature about disasters, resilience, and disaster-associated stress effects, we recommend eight actions to improve resiliency through inclusion of stress alleviation in disaster planning: (1) Improve existing disaster behavioral and physical health programs to better address, leverage, and coordinate resources for stress reduction, relief, and treatment in disaster planning and response. (2) Emphasize pre- and post-disaster collection of relevant biomarker and other health-related data to provide a baseline of health status against which disaster impacts could be assessed, and continued monitoring of these indicators to evaluate recovery. (3) Enhance capacity of science and public health early-responders. (4) Use natural infrastructure to minimize disaster damage. (5) Expand the geography of disaster response and relief to better incorporate the displacement of affected people. (6) Utilize nature-based treatment to alleviate pre- and post-disaster stress effects on health. (7) Review disaster laws, policies, and regulations to identify opportunities to strengthen public health preparedness and responses including for stress-related impacts, better engage affected communities, and enhance provision of health services. (8) With community participation, develop and institute equitable processes pre-disaster for dealing with damage assessments, litigation, payments, and housing.

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Section: Recommendations To Increase Resiliency To Disasters By Reducmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing Disaster Resilience by Reducing Stress-Associated Health Impacts

Sandifer

Walker²

2018

Front. Public Health

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“…The presence of trees and green spaces may encourage physical activity (Bell, Wilson, & Liu, 2008;Ellaway, MacIntyre, & Bonnefoy, 2005), which is related to physical and mental health. Given the multi-faceted health benefits of the ecosystem service ecotherapy (Summers & Vivian, 2018), the very act of planting and caring for trees may promote mental and physical health. Trees not only make people happier and healthier, but they make communities more livable.…”

Section: Health and Social Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The benefits of trees for livable and sustainable communities

Turner‐Skoff

Cavender

2019

Plants People Planet

205

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Societal Impact Statement Trees play a critical role for people and the planet. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the presence of trees and urban nature can improve people's mental and physical health, children's attention and test scores, the property values in a neighborhood, and beyond. Trees cool our urban centers. Trees are essential for healthy communities and people. The benefits that trees provide can help cities and countries meet 15 of the 17 internationally supported United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This critical review provides a comprehensive argument that trees should be considered an important part of the equation by project managers and civic leaders as we collectively work toward reaching these sustainability goals. Summary We live in an era influenced by humans to the point that the Earth's systems are now altered. In addition, a majority of the world's population live in cities. To meet the needs of people in a changing world, The United Nations General Assembly created the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) to improve the quality of life for people. These broad goals outline the greatest challenges of our time. An effective strategy to assist in meeting these goals is to plant and protect trees, especially in cities where the majority of people live. This paper serves as a critical review of the benefits of trees. Trees promote health and social well‐being by removing air pollution, reducing stress, encouraging physical activity, and promoting social ties and community. Children with views of trees are more likely to succeed in school. Trees promote a strong economy and can provide numerous resources to the people that need them. While cities are getting hotter, trees can reduce urban temperatures. They provide habitat and food for animals. Finally, trees are valuable green infrastructure to manage stormwater. Money spent on urban forestry has a high return on investment. As we navigate this human‐dominated era, we need skilled people who understand the nuances of the built environment and trees as we strategically plan the cities of the future. The overwhelming evidence from the scientific literature suggests that investing in trees is an investment in meeting the UN SDG, and ultimately an investment for a better world.

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“…Intuitively, children use their environments for physical challenges and play, creative problems to be solved and opportunities to expand their mental capacities and understanding of the structure and function of their natural environment [36]. Recent research findings indicate that people, particularly children, benefit from contact with nature for their well-being [11,[37][38]. Unfortunately, at the present time, access to the outdoors seems to be diminishing for young children making them increasingly separated from the natural environments [39].…”

Section: Free Playmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Natural ecosystems produce basic services (i.e., ecosystem services) upon which people depend [10]. Ecosystem services that are provided by Nature (e.g., simply the existence of Nature and natural ecosystems providing developmental or therapeutic services) [11], without explicit cost, are an underappreciated ecosystem services in the present ecological literature describing intermediate and final ecosystem goods and services. Regrettably, many researchers and individuals throughout society believe because these types of ecosystem services have no direct cost to them; they therefore, have no value [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Interaction with Nature in Childhood Development: An Under-Appreciated Ecosystem Service

Summers¹,

Vivian²,

Summers³

2019

PBS

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Humans depend on the vital services provided by natural ecosystems. Regrettably, some individuals believe these ecosystem services are free; and therefore, have no value. An under-appreciated service provided by ecosystems is strengthening childhood development through interaction with nature to enhance childhood cognitive and physical development. The development of a child's physical and cognitive abilities is complex with studies indicating multiple determinants and varied time scales. Childhood development is the product of many natural, social and built environmental attributes. While the impacts of social and built environments on childhood development are clearly described in the scientific literature, the role of natural environment is less clear. Even though people do not pay for this ecosystem service in a conventional sense, the loss of this service can result in a significant cost to humans through slower cognitive and physical development in children. Deprivation of these exposures to natural ecosystems can diminish a child's development and eventually their underlying quality of life. While the impact of nature on childhood development is understood by most child developmental psychologists, this impact is under-appreciated by non-social scientists studying the contributions of ecosystem services in society. The complicated and symbiotic interactions of natural ecosystems, their services and childhood development are poorly acknowledged in the ecological literature. In this article, the important role of natural ecosystems and their services in childhood cognitive and physical development are examined through an examination of studies assessing this childhood development-ecosystem service connection.

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Ecotherapy – A Forgotten Ecosystem Service: A Review

Cited by 82 publications

References 157 publications

Enhancing Disaster Resilience by Reducing Stress-Associated Health Impacts

Enhancing Disaster Resilience by Reducing Stress-Associated Health Impacts

The benefits of trees for livable and sustainable communities

The Role of Interaction with Nature in Childhood Development: An Under-Appreciated Ecosystem Service

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