This year’s Urban & Community Forestry Conference, sponsored by Oregon Community Trees and Oregon Department of Forestry, focused on “Urban Forestry Strategies: Linking People & Landscapes.” Each speaker’s presentation shed light on the connections between trees and human health.

Keynote speaker Dr. Kathy Wolf, Research Social Scientist and Program Director at the USDA Forest Service, University of Washington, noted that a great number of studies have been conducted on the ecosystem benefits that trees provide. These studies show that, by cleaning our air and water, reducing energy use, cooling streams for native fish, reducing erosion and more, trees are far better than people at multi-tasking. They are “the hard workers in the background of our lives.”

An increasing number of recent studies are demonstrating trees’ relationship to human health and well-being. With more funding, the research will soon reveal the causal relationships between the two.

Topics Dr. Wolf touched on included the cognitive and health advantages of saving children from “nature-deficit disorder” and a growing understanding of “attention restoration theory.” In workplaces, for example, just a 15 or 30-minute break spent in nature during a work day increases job satisfaction, reduces employee illness, and enhances people’s ability to focus on their work when they return to the office.Read More