Public Health

INFTA’s role as a peak body is to raise awareness and strengthen research about Forest Therapy. The rising costs in Public health for governments, health providers, tax-payers and patients result from a range of increasing environmental and health issues modern societies are exposed to.

While school medicine and traditional healing approaches have got their established places in helping to fight some of today’s health issues, new, more efficient and cost-effective ways need to be found in order to deal with typical health problems, such as obesity, stress or chronic heart and lung diseases. Here, Forest Therapy can play a very important role.

Countries like China, Japan or Korea have demonstrated both the effectiveness of Forest Therapy as a reliable, evidence-based Public health approach as well as its financial viability. In South Korea, the income generated by Forest Therapy alone was estimated to reach USD 2 billion in 2015. That, indeed, is a substantial amount.

Since Forest Therapy works so effectively and positively, other countries – such as Australia, Germany or the UK – should follow those examples. INFTA’s role is to assist and furnish this process of raising awareness.