The successful collaboration between INFTA’s experts and staff from Deakin University – the No. 1 university when it comes to educational experience in Victoria – bore fruit: the world’s first campus-based Forest Therapy trail, certified and accredited by INFTA, opened with a set of standardized Forest Therapy sessions led by INFTA’s President, Susan Joachim, on Monday, 15 April 2024.

The new Forest Therapy trail at the eco-friendly and beautifully landscaped Waurn Ponds campus near Geelong, Victoria, offers the possibility for Forest Therapy sessions right on campus for students and staff.

The first pilot study, led by Associate Professor Melissa O’Shea from the School of Psychology within the Faculty of Health, has measured to which degree students’ stress and anxiety levels were reduced by participating in a Forest Therapy session. The data collection during 10 Forest Therapy sessions, conducted successfully by INFTA-Certified and Accredited Forest Therapy Guides, was completed in May with results expected to be published later this year.