The second International Conference on Forest Therapy was held from August 9–11, hosted in the UBC Forest Sciences Centre with additional outdoor sessions taking place in the UBC Botanical Garden, Pacific Spirit Regional Park and throughout the UBC Vancouver campus.
More than 300 participants from over 10 countries attended, including researchers, Indigenous leaders, healthcare professionals, wellness guides and more. The event featured four key themes: current research in forest therapy, integration of forest therapy into public health systems, forest therapy policy and practice and emerging technologies in forest therapy.
Forest therapy focuses on improving wellbeing by improving connection to nature, often with guidance from a forest therapy practitioner. Stemming from the practice of forest bathing, it operates under a multidisciplinary framework to meet individual needs, incorporating work from social and natural sciences.
A review done in part by UBC researchers noted that forest therapy can reduce stress, blood pressure and symptoms of depression or anxiety in college students. The review found that as a low-cost and convenient option, forest therapy can be a valid approach to managing physical and mental health for students.
Organized by the UBC Multidisciplinary Institute of Nature Therapy, the conference aimed to bring together various disciplines and systems of knowledge to explore how nature-based healing can affect wellbeing.
During the opening ceremony, UBC President Benoit-Antoine Bacon said that the general theme of the conference, “Healing with nature,” felt especially pressing. “We're living in an increasingly urban, fast paced, digitally saturated world — one that gives the impression of connectedness, but can feel increasingly disconnected, disconnected from nature, from stillness, from spirit,” said Bacon.
The three-day conference featured plenary keynotes, thematic panel discussions, workshops and poster presentations. Topics of research in forest therapy included effects on mental health across different demographics, ideal environments, the role of forests in human history and politics and more.
Dr. Bernard Perley, anthropologist and Director of the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies at UBC, noted the conference as an “opportunity to be able to think beyond our disciplines, beyond our own particular kinds of limitations, to be able to see where we do align.” In his keynote speech titled "Ancestral Forests, Ancestral Medicine," he emphasized understanding how the Musqueam people view their landscapes and learning more about the surrounding environment.
“In the vicinity of the Salish Sea and these mountains, this is just a stunning landscape … How do we as humans, as part of the relations in this environment, pay greater attention to what we owe these environments?”
Perley said that trees are not just objects for our own use, but also a form of kin, and that nature should be treated honourably and respectfully. He also emphasized that reviving Indigenous languages can also revive Indigenous ecological knowledge. “If we can bring back those [erased] Indigenous languages … then maybe there are terms and conceptions of how we engage with our kin that we can together survive the next few years.”
Some sessions focused on implementable projects and initiatives like the use of virtual reality in expanding forest therapy practice.
Kristine Koster, Project Coordinator at BC Parks, said noise pollution is seen by some researchers as “the new second-hand smoke, due to its pervasive harms and the way involuntary exposure can damage health, even for those not directly responsible for the noise.”
Alongside Koster, Dr. Tara Tiger Brown, a UBC PhD graduate and forest therapy guide, presented on the Silent Trails Pilot Project. Koster explained that the project came from the goal of creating therapeutic spaces in urban parks, and Brown noted that visitors said silent trails brought relaxation and better perception of natural sounds. Koster and Brown said they have submitted a final report to Metro Vancouver and are waiting to see if silent trails will be continued.
The event began and ended with guided forest walks, the first through the UBC Botanical Garden and the concluding walk in Pacific Spirit Regional Park, which encouraged participants to slow down and connect with nature through the senses.
Ronna Schneberger, a forest therapy practitioner, encouraged participants to disconnect fully from their devices. “Turn your phone off, don’t use your phone, don’t take pictures. Just give yourself a little bit of time to just go connect with the natural world, and it will significantly improve your mental health,” said Schneberger.
The third International Conference on Forest Therapy is planned to be held in 2027, aiming to explore forest therapy in the context of climate, community resilience, urban environments, public policy and healthcare and medicalization through technology.
