Forest Bathing and Forests for Public Health—Series II

Dear Colleagues,

Humans have long enjoyed forest environments because of their quiet atmosphere, beautiful scenery, mild climate, pleasant aromas, and fresh, clean air. In Japan, a national health programme for forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, began to be introduced in 1982 by the Forest Agency of Japan for the management of workers’ stress. Shinrin in Japanese means ‘forest’, and yoku means ‘bath’. So shinrin-yoku means bathing in the forest atmosphere, or taking in the forest through our senses. Since 2004, serial studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of forest bathing/shinrin-yoku on human health in Japan. We have established a new medical science called forest medicine (https://novapublishers.com/shop/forest-medicine/). Forest medicine is a new interdisciplinary science, belonging to the categories of alternative medicine, environmental medicine and preventive medicine, which studies the effects of forest bathing/shinrin-yoku/forest therapy on human health. It has been reported that forest bathing/shinrin-yoku (forest therapy) has the following beneficial effects on human health:

• Boosts immune function;
• Reduces stress and stress hormones;
• Improves sleep;
• Shows preventive effect on depression;
• Reduces blood pressure and heart rate, showing hypertension prevention;
• Forest bathing in city parks also has benefits on human health;
• Forest bathing has preventive effect on lifestyle-related diseases.

Therefore, forests are very important for public health. In order to expand the philosophy and concept of forest medicine worldwide, we have planned this Special Issue.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

1. Physiological effects of forest bathing/forest therapy/shinrin-yoku on human health;
2. Psychological effects of forest bathing/forest therapy/shinrin-yoku on human health;
3. Beneficial effects of city parks on human health;
4. Beneficial effects of urban forests on human health;
5. Forest medicine and epidemiology of forest environments for public health;
6. Mental health benefits of exposure to nature and green spaces;
7. Urban forestry and green spaces planning and design for human activity;
8. Forest landscapes;
9. Any topics related to forest bathing, forest medicine, forest therapy, shinrin-yoku and forests for public health.

Prof. Dr. Qing Li
Prof. Dr. Won Sop Shin
Dr. Christos Gallis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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