Nature as a source of health and well-being: is this an ecosystem service that could pay for conserving biodiversity?

Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2

Volumn , Issue , 2013, Pages 143-160

  Hughes, Joelene ^a   Pretty, Jules ^b   Macdonald, David W ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Biodiversity conservation; Ecosystem service; Environment; Health; Human well being; Nature; Stress

Indexed keywords

EID: 84886565832     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book    
DOI: 10.1002/9781118520178.ch9     Document Type: Chapter

References (111)

1. Barton, J., & Pretty J. (2010) What is the best dose of nature and green exercise for improving mental health? A multi-study analysis. Environmental Science and Technology, 44, 3947-3955.
2. Becker, S.P. (2010) Wilderness therapy: ethical considerations for mental health professionals. Child and Youth Care Forum, 39, 47-61.
3. Berman, M.G., Jonides, J. & Kaplan, S. (2008) The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. Psychological Science, 19, 1207-1212.
4. Berto, R. (2005) Exposure to restorative environments helps restore attentional capacity. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25, 249-259.
5. Blair, S.N. & Morris, J.N. (2009) Healthy hearts - and the universal benefits of being physically active: physical activity and health. Annals of Epidemiology, 19, 253-256.
6. Booth, J.E., Gaston, K.J. & Armsworth, P.R. (2010) Who benefits from recreational use of protected areas? Ecology and Society, 15, 19.
7. Bowler, D., Buyung-Ali, L., Knight, T.M. & Pullin, A.S. (2010a) The Importance of Nature for Health: Is There A Specific Benefit of Contact with Green Space? CEE review 08-003 (SR40). Environmental Evidence: www.environmentalevidence.org/SR40.html
8. Bowler, D., Buyung-Ali, L., Knight, T.M. & Pullin, A.S. (2010b) A systematic review of evidence for the added benefits to health of exposure to natural environments. BMC Public Health, 10, 10.
9. CDC (1996) Physical Activity and Health. A Report of the Surgeon General. US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Washington, D.C.
10. Chang, C.Y., Hammitt, W.E., Chen, P.K., Machnik, L. & Su, W.C. (2008) Psychophysiological responses and restorative values of natural environments in Taiwan. Landscape and Urban Planning, 85, 79-84.
11. Coley, R.L., Kuo, F.E. & Sullivan, W.C. (1997) Where does community grow? The social context created by nature in urban public housing. Environment and Behaviour, 29, 468-494.
12. Collins, M.B., Milner-Gulland, E.J., Macdonald, E.A. & Macdonald, D.W. (2011) Pleiotropy and charisma determine winners and losers in the REDD + game: all biodiversity is not equal. Tropical Conservation Science, 4, 261-266.
13. Coombes, E., Jones, A.P. & Hillsdon, M. (2010) The relationship of physical activity and overweight to objectively measured green space accessibility and use. Social Science and Medicine, 70, 816-822.
14. DEFRA (2007) Sustainable Development Indicators in Your Pocket 2007: An Update of the UK Government Strategy Indicators. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London.
15. Department of Health (2004) Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier. Department of Health, London.
16. Dockray, S. & Steptoe, A. (2010) Positive affect and psychobiological processes. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 35, 69-75.
17. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2009) OSH in Figures: Stress at Work - Facts and Figures. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.
18. Foresight (2007) Tackling Obesities - Future Choices. Government Office of Science, London.
19. Fox, C., Merali, Z. & Harrison, C. (2006) Therapeutic and protective effect of environmental enrichment against psychogenic and neurogenic stress. Behavioural Brain Research, 175, 1-8.
20. Fromm, E. (1964) The Heart of Man: Its Genius For Good and Evil. Harper and Row, New York.
21. Frumkin, P. (2001) Beyond toxicity - human health and the natural environment. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 20, 234-240.
22. Fuller, R.A., Irvine, K.N., Devine-Wright, P., Warren, P.H. & Gaston, K.J. (2007) Psychological benefits of greenspace increase with biodiversity. Biology Letters, 3, 390-394.
23. Fumagalli, F., Molteni, R., Racagni, G. & Riva, M.A. (2007) Stress during development: impact on neuroplasticity and relevance to psychopathology. Progress in Neurobiology, 81, 197-217.
24. Gelling, M., Montes, I., Moorhouse, T.P. & Macdonald, D.W. (2010) Captive housing during water vole (Arvicola terrestris) reintroduction: does short-term social stress impact on animal welfare? PLoS ONE, 5(3), 9791.
25. Grahn, P. & Stigsdotter, U.A. (2003) Landscape planning and stress. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 2, 1-18.
26. HarrisInteractive (2007) Reading and TV watching still favorite activities, but both have seen drops. In: The Harris Poll® #115, November 15.
27. Hartig, T., Mang, M. & Evans, G.W. (1991) Restorative effects of natural environment experiences. Environ ment and Behavior, 23, 3-26.
28. Hartig, T., Book, A., Garvill, J., Olsson, T. & Garling, T. (1996) Environmental influences on psychological restoration. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 37, 378-393.
29. Hartig, T., Evans, G.W., Jamner, L.D., Davis, D.S. & Garling, T. (2003) Tracking restoration in natural and urban field settings. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23, 109-123.
30. Hartig, T., Catalano, R. & Ong, M. (2007) Cold summer weather, constrained restoration, and the use of antidepressants in Sweden. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27, 107-116.
31. Health Council of the Netherlands and Dutch Advisory Council for Research on Spatial Planning (2004) Nature and Health. The Influence of Nature on Social, Psychological and Physical Well-Being. Health Council of the Netherlands and RMNO, The Hague. Herzog, T.R., Chen, H.C. & Primeau, J.S. (2002) Perception of the restorative potential of natural and other settings. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 22, 295-306.
32. HSE (2011a) Prevalence - For People Working in the Last 12 Months (Table SWIT3W12). Health and Safety Executive, London.
33. HSE (2011b) Working Days Lost. Health and Safety Executive, London.
34. Hughes, J., Barton, J., Bird, W., et al. (submitted) Nature as a resource for health and well-being: the missing ecosystem service.
35. Kalia, M. (2002) Assessing the economic impact of stress - the modern day hidden epidemic. Metabolism - Clinical and Experimental, 51, 49-53.
36. Kaplan, R. (1992) The psychological benefits of nearby nature. In: The Role of Horticulture in Human Well-being and Social Development: A National Symposium (ed. D. Relf), pp. 125-133. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
37. Kaplan, R. & Kaplan, S. (1989) The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
38. Kaplan, S. (1995) The restorative benefits of nature: toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 169-182.
39. Kearney, A.R. & Winterbottom, D. (2005) Nearby nature and long-term care facility residents: benefits and design recommendations. Journal of Housing for the Elderly, 19, 7.
40. Kellert, S. & Wilson, E.O. (1993) The Biophilia Hypothesis. Island Press, Washington, D.C.
41. Kempermann, G., Kuhn, H.G. & Gage, F.H. (1997) More hippocampal neurons in adult mice living in an enriched environment. Nature, 386, 493-495.
42. Kondo, T., Takeda, A., Takeda, N., Shimomura, Y., Yatagai, M. & Kobayashi, I. (2008) A physiopsychological research on Shinrin-yoku. Journal of the Japanese Association of Physical Medicine, Balneology and Climatology, 71, 131.
43. Kudielka, B.M., Hellhammer, D.H. & Wust, S. (2009) Why do we respond so differently? Reviewing determinants of human salivary cortisol responses to challenge. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 2-18.
44. Kuo, F.E. (2001) Coping with poverty - impacts of environment and attention in the inner city. Environment and Behavior, 33, 5-34.
45. Kuo, F.E. & Sullivan, W.C. (2001) Environment and crime in the inner city - does vegetation reduce crime? Environment and Behavior, 33, 343-367.
46. Kuo, F.E., Sullivan, W.C., Coley, R.L. & Brunson, L. (1998) Fertile ground for community: inner-city neighbourhood common spaces. American Journal of Community Psychology, 26, 823-851.
47. Laumann, K., Garling, T. & Stormark, K.M. (2003) Selective attention and heart rate responses to natural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23, 125-134.
48. Lee, A.C.K. & Maheswaran, R. (2011) The health benefits of urban green spaces: a review of the evidence. Journal of Public Health, 33, 212-222.
49. Lohr, V.I., Pearson-Mims, C.H. & Goodwin, G.K. (1996) Interior plants may improve worker productivity and reduce stress in a windowless environment. Journal of Environmental Horticulture, 14, 97-100.
50. Maas, J., Verheij, R.A., Groenewegen, P.P., de Vries, S. & Spreeuwenberg, P. (2006) Green space, urbanity, and health: how strong is the relation? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 60, 587-592.
51. Macdonald, D.W., Collins, N.M. & Wrangham, R. (2006) Principles, practice and priorities: the quest for 'alignment'. In: Key Topics in Conservation Biology. (eds D.W. Macdonald & K. Service), pp. 273-292. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
52. Macdonald, D.W, Burnham, D., Hinks, A. & Wrangham, R. (2012) A problem shared is a problem reduced: seeking efficiency in the conservation of felids and primates. Folia Primatologica, 83(3-5), special issue 'Primate-Predator Interactions'.
53. Mace, G.M., Possingham, H.P. & Leader-Williams, N. (2006) Prioritizing choices in conservation. In: Key Topics in Conservation Biology (eds D.W. Macdonald & K. Service), pp. 17-34. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
54. McLaren, G.W., Macdonald, D.W., Georgiou, C., Mathews, F., Newman, C. & Mian, R. (2003) Leukocyte coping capacity: a novel technique for measuring the stress response in vertebrates. Experimental Physiology, 88, 541-546.
55. Mian, R., McLaren, G.W. & Macdonald, D.W. (2005) Of stress, mice and men: a radical approach to old problems. In: Stress and Health. New Research. (ed. K.V. Oxington), pp. 61-80. Nova Publishers, Hauppauge, NY.
56. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Health Synthesis. A Report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C.
57. Miller, J.R. (2005) Biodiversity conservation and the extinction of experience. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 20, 430-434.
58. Minchin, T. (2010) Storm: www.timminchin.comMirescu, C. & Gould, E. (2006) Stress and adult neurogenesis. Hippocampus, 16, 233-238.
59. Mitchell, R. & Popham, F. (2008) Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities: an observational population study. Lancet, 372, 1655-1660.
60. Montes. I., McLaren, G.W., Macdonald, D.W. & Mian, R. (2004) The effect of transport stress on neutrophil activation in wild badgers (Meles meles). Animal Welfare, 13, 355-359.
61. Morita, E., Fukuda, S., Nagano, J., et al. (2007) Psychological effects of forest environments on healthy adults: Shinrin-yoku (forest-air bathing, walking) as a possible method of stress reduction. Public Health, 121, 54-63.
62. Nielsen, T.S. & Hansen, K.B. (2007) Do green areas affect health? Results from a Danish survey on the use of green areas and health indicators. Health and Place, 13, 839-850.
63. ONS (2005) Main and Secondary Activities with Rates of Participation, 2005. Office for National Statistics, London.
64. Ouellette, P., Kaplan, R. & Kaplan, S. (2005) The monastery as a restorative environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25, 175-188.
65. Pachana, N.A., Ford, J.H., Andrew, B. & Dobson, A.J. (2005) Relations between companion animals and self-reported health in older women: cause, effect or artifact? International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 12, 103.
66. Papworth, S.K., Rist, J., Coad, L. & Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2009) Evidence for shifting baseline syndrome in conservation. Conservation Letters, 2, 93-100.
67. Park, B.J., Tsunetsugu, Y., Kasetani, T., Kagawa, T. & Miyazaki, Y. (2010) The physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing): evidence from field experiments in 24 forests across Japan. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 15, 18-26.
68. Parsons, R., Tassinary, L.G., Ulrich, R.S., Hebl, M.R. & Grossman-Alexander, M. (1998) The view from the road: implications for stress recovery and immunization. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 18, 113-140.
69. Pauly, D. (1995) Anecdotes and the shifting base-line syndrome of fisheries. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 10, 430.
70. Peen, J., Dekker, J., Schoevers, R.A., ten Have, M., de Graaf, R. & Beekman, A.T. (2007) Is the prevalence of psychiatric disorders associated with urbanization? Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 42, 984-989.
71. Philo, C. (1987) "Fit localities for an asylum": the historical geography of the nineteenth-century "mad-business" in England as viewed through the pages of the Asylum Journal. Journal of Historical Geography, 13, 398-415.
72. Pickering, C.M., Hill, W., Newsome, D. & Leung, Y-F. (2010) Comparing hiking, mountain biking and horse riding impacts on vegetation and soils in Australia and the United States of America. Journal of Environmental Management, 91, 551-562.
73. Pilgrim, S. & Pretty, J. (2010) Nature and Culture. Earthscan, London.
74. Pretty, J., Peacock, J., Sellens, M. & Griffin. M. (2005) The mental and physical health outcomes of green exercise. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 15, 319-337.
75. Pretty, J., Angus, C., Bain, M., et al. (2009) Nature, Childhood, Health and Life Pathways. University of Essex Occasional Paper, pp. 1-30.
76. Prince, M., Patel, V., Saxena, S., et al. (2007) No health without mental health. Global Mental Health Series. Lancet, 370, 859-877.
77. Purcell, T., Peron, E. & Berto, R. (2001) Why do preferences differ between scene types? Environment and Behavior, 33, 93-106.
78. Richardson, E., Pearce, J., Mitchell, R., Day, P. & Kingham, S. (2010) The association between green space and cause-specific mortality in urban New Zealand: an ecological analysis of green space utility. BMC Public Health, 10, 14.
79. Roovers, P., Verheyen, K., Hermy, M. & Gulinck, H. (2004) Experimental trampling and vegetation recovery in some forest and heathland communities. Applied Vegetation Science, 7, 111-118.
80. Sandercock, G., Voss, C., McConnell, D. & Rayner, P. (2010) Ten year secular declines in the cardiorespiratory fitness of affluent English children are largely independent of changes in body mass index. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 95, 46-47.
81. Shelton-Rayner, G.K., Macdonald, D.W., Chandler, S., Robertson, D. & Mian, R. (2010) Leukocyte reactivity as an objective means of quantifying mental loading during ergonomic evaluation. Cellular Immunology, 263, 22-30.
82. Shelton-Rayner, G.K., Mian, R., Chandler, S., Robertson, D. & Macdonald, D.W. (2011) Quan tifying transient psychological stress using a novel technique: changes to PMA-induced leukocyte production of ROS in vitro. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 17, 3-13.
83. Shibasaki, M. & Kawai, N. (2009) Rapid detection of snakes by Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata): an evolutionarily predisposed visual system. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 123, 131-135.
84. Simaika, J.P. & Samways, M.J. (2010) Biophilia as a universal ethic for conserving biodiversity. Conservation Biology, 24, 903-906.
85. Sugiyama, T., Leslie, E., Giles-Corti, B. & Owen, N. (2008) Associations of neighbourhood greenness with physical and mental health: do walking, social coherence and local social interaction explain the relationships? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 62, 9.
86. Sukhdev, P., Wittmer, H., Schroter-Schlaack, C., et al. (2010) The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity. Mainstreaming the Economics of Nature: A Synthesis of the Approach, Conclusions and Recommendations of TEEB. TEEB, Bonn.
87. Sztainberg, Y. & Chen, A. (2010) An environmental enrichment model for mice. Nature Protocols, 5, 1535-1539.
88. Taylor, A.F., Kuo, F.E. & Sullivan, W.C. (2002) Views of nature and self-discipline: evidence from inner city children. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 22, 49-64.
89. Tennessen, C.M. & Cimprich, B. (1995) Views to nature: effects on attention. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 77-85.
90. Thomas, G. & Thompson, G. (2004) A Child's Place: Why Environment Matters to Children. Green Alliance/Demos Report, London.
91. Thompson Coon, J., Boddy, K., Stein, K., Whear, R., Barton, J. & Depledge, M.H. (2011) Does participating in physical activity in outdoor natural environments have a greater effect on physical and mental wellbeing than physical activity indoors? A systematic review. Environmental Science and Technology, 45, 1761-1772.
92. UK National Ecosystem Assessment (2011) The UK National Ecosystem Assessment Technical Report. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge1.
93. Ulrich, R.S. (1983) Aesthetic and affective response to natural environment. In: Human Behavior and Environment, vol 6. (eds I. Altman & J.F. Wohlwill). Plenum Press, New York.
94. Ulrich, R.S. (1984) View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science, 224, 420-421.
95. Ulrich, R.S., Simons, R.F., Losito, B.D., Fiorito, E., Miles, M.A. & Zelson, M. (1991) Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 11, 201-230.
96. UN (2008) World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, New York.
97. UN (2009) World Urbanization Prospects: The 2009 Revision. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, New York.
98. Valenzuela-Galvan, D., Arita, H.T. & Macdonald, D.W. (2008) Conservation priorities for carnivores considering protected natural areas and human population density. Biodiversity and Conservation, 17, 539-558.
99. Van Dellen, A., Blakemore, C., Deacon, R., York, D. & Hannan, A.J. (2000) Delaying the onset of Huntington's in mice. Nature, 404, 721-722.
100. Van den Berg, A.E., Koole, S.L. & van der Wulp, N.Y. (2003) Environmental preference and restoration: (how) are they related? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23, 135-146.
101. Vries, S.D., Verheij, R.A., Groenewegen, P.P. & Spreeuwenberg, P. (2003) Natural environments - healthy environments? An exploratory analysis of the relationship between greenspace and health. Environment and Planning, 35, 1717-1731.
102. Ward Thompson, C., Aspinall, P. & Montarzino, A. (2008) The childhood factor: adult visits to green places and the significance of childhood experience. Environment and Behaviour, 40, 111-143.
103. Weich, S., Twigg, L. & Lewis, G. (2006) Rural/nonrural differences in rates of common mental disorders in Britain - prospective multilevel cohort study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 188, 51-57.
104. Wells, N.M. (2000) At home with nature - effects of "greenness" on children's cognitive functioning. Environment and Behavior, 32, 775-795.
105. Wells. N.M. & Evans, G.W. (2003) Nearby nature - a buffer of life stress among rural children. Environment and Behavior, 35, 311-330.
106. Wells, N.M. & Lekies, K.S. (2006) Nature and the life course: pathways from adulthood nature experience to adult environmentalism. Children, Youth and Environments, 16, 1-24.
107. Westgarth, C., Heron, J., Ness, A.R., et al. (2010) Family pet ownership during childhood: findings from a UK birth cohort and implications for public health research. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 7, 3704-3729.
108. White, M., Smith, A., Humphryes, K., Pahl, S., Snelling, D. & Depledge, M. (2010) Blue space: the importance of water for preference, affect, and restorativeness ratings of natural and built scenes. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 482-493.
109. WHO (1948) Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as Adopted by the International Health Conference. World Health Organization, New York.
110. WHO (2011) Obesity and Overweight. Factsheet No. 311. World Health Organization, Copenhagen.
111. Wilson, E.O. (1984) Biophilia. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.