Natural Environments and Human Health. Alan W Ewert
them.
Chapter 9 looks at adventure and outdoor education programming as an example of an innovative approach for integrating natural environments and health. Chapter 10 expands on the ways to develop the connection between health and natural environments by focusing on how public policy might be developed in order to facilitate ways in which individuals can better access and benefit from natural landscapes. For example, these future actions might involve policy changes such as greenspace development, providing parks and other natural environments, and moving to make natural environments personally relevant. This chapter also examines the challenges and issues facing future research such as fidelity concerns, who will actually use the research findings, and how the issues of confounding variables will be dealt with.
The book ends with Chapter 11, ‘Resources’, and provides a collection of web sites, extant literature and other sources that speak to the connection between human health and natural environments.
References
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Blonna, R. (2011) Coping with Stress in a Changing World, 5th edn. McGraw-Hill, Boston, Massachusetts.
Bruni, C.M., Chance, R., Schultz, P.W. and Nolan, J. (2012) Natural connections: bees sting, snakes bite, but they still are nature. Environment and Behavior 44(2), 197–215.
Cheng, J. and Monroe, M.C. (2012) Connection to nature: children’s affective attitude toward nature. Environment and Behavior 44(1), 31–49.
de Vries, S., Verheij, R.A., Groenewegen, P.P. and Spreeuwenberg, P. (2003) Natural environments – healthy environments? An exploratory analysis of the relationship between greenspace and health. Environment and Planning A 35(10), 1717–1732.
Ewert, A. and Galloway, G. (2012) Take a park, not a pill: promoting health and wellness through adventure programming. In: Martin, B. and Wagstaff, M. (eds) Controversial Issues in Adventure Programming. Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, pp. 130–137.
Johansson, M., Hartig, T. and Staats, H. (2011) Psychological benefits of walking: moderation by company and outdoor environment. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being 3(3), 261–280.
Kline, J.T., Rosenberger, R.S. and White, E.M. (2011) A national assessment of physical activity in US National Forests. Journal of Forestry 109(6), 343–351.
Larivière, M., Couture, R., Ritchie, S.D., Côté, D., Oddson, B., et al. (2012) Behavioural assessment of wilderness therapy participants: exploring the consistency of observational data. Journal of Experiential Education 35(1), 290–302.
Louv, R. (2005) Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Lyytimaki, J. (2012) Indoor ecosystem services: bringing ecology and people together. Human Ecology Review 19(1), 70–76.
Maller, C., Townsend, M., Pryor, A., Brown, P. and St. Leger, L. (2006) Healthy nature healthy people: ‘contact with nature’ as an upstream health promotion intervention for populations. Health Promotion International 21(1), 45–54.
Mitten, D. (1994) Ethical considerations in adventure therapy: a feminist critique. In: Cole, E., Erdman, E. and Rothblum, E.D. (eds) Wilderness Therapy for Women: The Power of Adventure. The Haworth Press, Binghamton, New York, pp. 55–84.
Mitten, D. (2004) Adventure therapy as a complementary and alternative therapy. In: Bandoroff, S. and Newes, S. (eds) Coming of Age: The Evolving Field of Adventure Therapy. Association of Experiential Education, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 240–257.
Mitten, D. (2009) Under our noses: the healing power of nature. Taproot Journal 19(1), 20–26.
O’Brien, L., Burls, A., Bentsen, P., Hilmo, I., Holter, K., et al. (2011) Outdoor education, lifelong learning and skills development in woodlands and green spaces: the potential links to health and well-being. In: Nilsson, K., Sangster, M., Gallis, C., Hartig, T., de Vries, S.,. (eds) Forests, Trees and Human Health. Springer, New York, pp. 343–372.
Outdoor Foundation (2011) Outdoor Recreation Participation Report 2011. Outdoor Foundation, Boulder, Colorado.
Pergams, O.R.W. and Zaradic, P.A. (2008) Evidence for a fundamental and pervasive shift away from nature-based recreation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105(7), 2295–2300.
Russell, K.C. (2003) An assessment of outcomes in outdoor behavioral healthcare treatment. Child and Youth Care Forum 32(6), 355–381.
Smith, B.J., Tang, K.C. and Nutbeam, D. (2006) WHO health promotion glossary: new terms. Health Promotion International 21(4), 340–345.
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World Health Organization (1948) Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference. Official Records of the World Health Organization 2, 100.
2
Human Perceptions of Nature
At the heart of commons-based cultural systems is the recognition that diversity, biological, linguistic and cultural, must be protected as a means of survival.
R. Martusewicz (2005, p. 340)
To better understand humans’ connection to nature and the relationship between human health and natural environments, it is important to consider how both individuals and societies perceive the natural environment. Human actions are driven by perceptions regardless of the reality of our evolutionary, biological, and psychological connections with nature. Perceptions of nature are driven by WorldViews, which are impacted by culture (social interactions) and our interaction with the environment at large. These perceptions ultimately account for the ways that humans interact with, value, protect, benefit from, and use the natural environment.
The overarching goal of this chapter is for people to learn that the natural environment is personally significant to all of us. We first make a case that humans are innately connected with nature evolutionarily, biologically, emotionally, spiritually, and socially. This connection is reciprocal; we are influenced by nature and we influence nature. Next we address the evolution of WorldViews and human perceptions of nature leading to the modern, predominantly Western tendency to place humans outside ecosystems; and the subsequent sense of and reality of disconnection from nature. Finally, we examine potential concerns rising from estrangement from nature and the ramifications of such separation, concluding that a WorldView that includes a positive affiliation with nature will lead to increased health and well-being for humans.
What does Connected Mean? Are We Connected to Nature?
Connected means that we are attached or united, we are joined; we are related as in family ties. In a state of connection there is a link or a bond; there is cause and effect. We are connected to nature; meaning that we are in relationship with other living beings and these relationships impact our social, psychological, spiritual, and biological selves, which in turn impact our health and well-being. Early humans were well-connected and interwoven with nature, co-evolving for millennia.
Our social and physical environments influence our perceptions. Therefore, daily interactions and close dependence on nature influenced perceptions of early humans as they lived lives intertwined with natural patterns such as solar and lunar cycles, salmon spawning cycles, whale and bird migrations, insect activity, and berry ripening. Most likely this reliance