Articles & Research
Around the world, across sectors, awareness is growing about the vital link between the health of people and the health of our planet. Read and share articles and research papers about the many new ways individuals and organisations are working to reconnect people with nature.
Featured Articles
World Parks Congress Improving Health and Well-being: Healthy Parks Healthy People stream report
The proceedings of the Improving Health and Well-being: Healthy Parks Healthy People stream at the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014 have been recorded and compiled in a comprehensive report of each stream session that offers an excellent overview.
Read more
Strong link between nature and human health
Global research showing the strong connection between human health and contact with nature is the focus of a new report just released by Parks Victoria and Deakin University.
Read more-
The value of traditional knowledge in managing parks
Historically the rights of indigenous people to use the resources of their traditional lands in national parks have been curtailed with little or no consultation. Instead the focus has been on conservation of areas of scenic or aesthetic value to non-indigenous people and the protection of endangered and vulnerable plant and animal species.
Read more 
Why Art in Parks?
Art is the expression of human creativity and imagination, producing works to be enjoyed, appreciated and even challenge thinking. Public art is art that is conceived and designed largely to be in an outdoor area, accessible and appreciable by all. One place such public art is regularly found is parks.
Read more
Urban planning and the importance of green space in cities to human and environmental health
Cities are comprised of more than just buildings and people. The most “liveable” cities – and some of the world’s most famous cities – are as known for their open space as they are for their culture.
Read more
Popular Research Downloads
-
A review of nature-based interventions for mental health care
With the prescription of antidepressants at record levels and a high demand for psychological therapies, health and social care commissioners are interested in examining and commissioning new treatment interventions for mental health. This study examines the benefits, commonality and outcomes of three key green care approaches.
Read more -
Protected areas and human wellbeing assessment
Establishing protected areas (PAs) has been one of the most common and successful interventions since the very beginning of the conservation movement.
Read more -
Human health impacts of ecosystem alteration
By Samuel Myers, Lynne Gaffikin, Christopher Golden, Richard Ostfeld, Kent Redford, Taylor Ricketts, Will Turner and Steven OsofskyHuman activity is rapidly transforming most of Earth’s natural systems. How this transformation is impacting human health, whose health is at greatest risk, and the magnitude of the associated disease burden are relatively new subjects within the field of environmental health.
Read more -
Green space and stress: evidence from cortisol measures in deprived urban communities
By Jenny Roe, Catharine Ward Thompson, Peter Aspinall, Mark Brewer, Elizabeth Duff, David Miller, Richard Mitchell and Angela ClowContact with green space in the environment has been associated with mental health benefits, but the mechanism underpinning this association is not clear.
Read more -
Walking for wellbeing: are group walks in certain types of natural environments better for wellbeing than group walks in urban environments?
By Melissa Marselle, Katherine Irvine and Sara WarberThe benefits of walking in natural environments for wellbeing are increasingly understood. However, less well known are the impacts different types of natural environments have...
Read more