Special issue on forests and human health

Introduction:

For millennia, nature has been an integral component of human health and well-being. In recent years, forest therapy has emerged, which works on the basis that re-introducing people to the forest and other natural environments profoundly benefits their physical and mental well-being. The therapy encourages people to be present in their bodies and enjoy the sensation of being alive.

The key goal of national parks is to provide public recreation and enjoyment. However, their natural habitats make them ideal locations for forest therapy.

This special issue seeks to promote research on forest therapy in protected areas and urban green spaces and increase awareness of forest therapy.

Topics covered:

We welcome submissions exploring the following tentative themes:

• Concepts, methods, approaches and practices
• Forest therapy programmedesign
• The development mode of forest therapy in national parks
• Evaluations of the effectsof forest therapy
• Certification for forest therapy guides
• Reviewsof the research on forest therapy in national parks
• Integrated development of a sustainable future forest therapy

Important deadlines:

Submission deadline: 1 October 2022

Submission Instructions:

Please read the Guide for Authors before submitting. All articles should be submitted online; please select Forest and human health on submission.

Queries can be emailed to the journal editorial office at geoheritage@bnu.edu.cn, OR to Guest Editor Dr. Guangyu Wang, guangyu.wang@ubc.ca.

Guest Editors:

• Dr. Won Sop Shin, Professor, Chungbuk National University, Korea.
• Dr. Guangyu Wang, Professor, UBC Faculty of Forestry, Canada
• Dr. Tamberly Conway, Founder, Conservation Conexions, USA