Hare you feeling happy now? The question was asked by an app on my phone, and I dragged the slider to the space between “not much” and “somewhat”. I’m about to start a walk in the woods as part of a national research project to investigate how well the forests of the future can be designed.
Volunteers are being sought to record their feelings before and after eight walks in a free app, Go Jauntly, which may reveal which types of treescapes benefit our health and mental health the most.
I was feeling tired after a week of delayed trains which took me on a three and a half hour drive to the Staffordshire village of Barton-under-Needwood, where the walk began. My mood is sure to be lifted by a leafy walk through the National Forest, a vast woodland that stretches across the Midlands.
My guide is Miles Richardson, professor of nature communication at the University of Derby, who hopes that the data he collects from the Treefest walks will uncover how the age, size and shape of trees and shrubs can benefit well-being. .
“With the government’s ambitious tree planting targets, there are hundreds of new forests across the country,” Richardson said. “The whole project is about creating design tools so that we can create the best treescape in 50 years’ time. Is the best way to do this with densely packed plantations of trees in regimes row? Is that more beneficial to your well-being than a less linear approach? We don’t know.”
The Treefest research walks are part of a £14.5m Future of the UK Treescapes programme, an interdisciplinary research quest involving several universities and investigating how to secure public benefits from forested landscapes. look.
We cross green fields and soon find ourselves in a regimented plantation planted in the 1990s as part of the National Forest, 200 sq miles (500sq km) of woodland from Staffordshire to Leicestershire in historically degraded areas. in the coalmines.
Many scientific studies reveal the physiological and psychological benefits of time spent among trees but it is not yet understood what effect different types of treescape have on us. Research shows that more biodiverse landscapes bring more mental and physical benefits to people and Richardson suspects that well-being will be more enhanced with more wildlife-rich forests than with monocultural plantation forestry.
It was an immediate relief to be away from the traffic – the trees blocked all the noise from the nearby A38 – but the first rows of young ash trees dying of ash dieback disease did not fill me with joy. . Another snag is that I have to keep checking the route in the Go Jauntly app. It has clear photos along with helpful directions, but I’ve only had enough of the phone and I don’t feel like using it to try to ventilate nature.
Richardson, however, wants to emphasize that technology is not a barrier to the appreciation of nature but can deepen it, or provide access for communities that avoid nature. “We are a technological monkey and we have to accept it. The way we use a tool is what matters,” he said.
Where once I used a map, the app guides us, and Richardson believes that in the near future, “AI and digital assistance will do the legwork of connecting people with nature”. I imagine being guided through a tree by a virtual David Attenborough. “Maybe Alexa will grow,” Richardson said. “You can have a digitally created face that takes you into the natural world, reassuring you and telling you where to go.”
The new plantation gives way to a patch of old oaks with an understorey of hazel and holly, which is more chaotic and yet somehow more peaceful too. We then emerged into a rolling landscape of meadows, large parkland trees, with Dunstall village church on the horizon.
“We are not in the woods now but we are in the treescape,” said Richardson. “How close are the trees to begin with that matters to us? How dense do they need to be?” He hopes to get enough data from the Treefest research measures to also explore how more biodiverse spaces can benefit health – through more birdsong, for example.
The lack of buzzing noise on this walk definitely helped me feel calmer and happier, and Richardson said he could record the noise on eight research walks to examine this variable as well.
The program also seeks to design climate-resilient forests. “What trees can you plant if we have 40C summers with 20mm of rain per month? It’s also good to think about planting trees designed to have a social prescribing or counseling service within the trees,” said Richardson. . “You can’t go for more than a five-minute walk in the woods here – you can’t go for a cool walk on a hot summer day. In terms of future sights, a three-mile walk through a wooded area close to where people live seems very important. “
Numerous peer-reviewed studies have identified the many benefits of wooded landscapes in everything from improved cardiovascular health and the immune system to depression, which decreases with immersion in a forest along with lower levels of anxiety, anger, confusion and fatigue.
But it appears that the type of forest may also be important: interestingly, several studies suggest that more biodiversity has a greater improvement in mental health in people, while recording brain activity in response to forest density found a more relaxed state and reduced stress and fatigue. in forests with a low density of trees (from 30% to 50%) – suggesting that plantations of conifer densely packed are not very beneficial.
My joy increases as we walk as we enter a strip of leafy woodland with a wide grassy drive teeming with life – dragonflies, grass ants and spotted wood butterflies busy themselves. like a green woodpecker chuckling in the distance.
I was happy to witness so many other animals living freely, and seeing other life up close put my own concerns in perspective – as did considering the longevity of these trees.
Of course there is endless predation, disease, pain and constant worry in the non-human world as well. And what about people who are afraid of the forest or feel uncomfortable in the countryside?
Richardson says that if we make sure that there are different treescapes near the houses, people of all characteristics and backgrounds can discover the benefits of nature in their own way. “We are a very diverse people and we need to be sensitive to where people and communities are and be sensitive to that in the design of new treescapes,” he said.
At the end of the walk, I answered a series of questions about the trees and birds I encountered and how I felt. I’ve definitely reached the happier side of “somewhat” happy. But I noticed the real benefit of our tree walk when I got home after another long trip: I was glowing from the hours outside, relaxed and energetic.
Richardson added: “We need to find ways for everyone to have a closer relationship with nature because it’s good for health and it’s good for a sustainable future. That route will be different for different communities. The excitement is finding out what these solutions are and getting people involved in designing and developing and running them.
