Today, on 12 April, the three-day international conference “Forest Improves Health” ended. The conference was dedicated to the next year of outdoor studying that will begin on 14 April. In the working groups of the conference that started on Sunday, forestry and health care researchers from 15 European countries agreed on the future cooperation and research directions for the applied research COST E39 “Forests, Trees and Human Health and Well-Being”. Mr Erik Kosenkranius, Acting Head of the Forest Department of the Ministry of the Environment emphasized the importance of forests in his speech delivered at this conference where he said: “The value of forests to the society is definitely higher than we realise today. Nowadays, the role of forests from the point of view of public health is especially undervalued.” According to Mr Kosenkranius, the Forest Department expects this applied research action to provide clear data on the actual value of this role. This would be a good input to the improvement of forest policy. According to Mr Mikk Sarv, who was the organiser of the conference held on the premises of the Tallinn Unive rsity and the Ministry of the Environment and who is both the Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Association of School Forests and the Estonian Coordinator of the COST E39 research, Estonia is a valuable partner in conducting this research because of our long experience with school forest districts and outdoor studying. Mr Kjell Nilsson, research coordinator and Deputy Director of the Danish Forest and Landscape Institute asserted that wider use of forests and other green areas in the interest of health enables to save huge amounts of taxpayers’ money. For example, several international corporations have implemented different practical measures to improve their employees’ health. These companies have built their diners some distance away from workplaces to encourage their employees to take a healthy walk during their lunch break. The long-term objective of the research is to urge people to take better care of their health by using simple means, such as walking and running in the open air and in green areas of cities. The applied research action COST E39 “Forests, Trees and Human Health and Well-Being” was launched in May 2004 by planning the use of urban forests. The initial planning indicated that forests and trees could significantly improve human health and well-being, especially in areas of dense population. 19 countries participate in the research, including Estonia. In Estonia, the first studies examining the impact of green areas surrounding hospitals on the recovery of patients have already been finished. The conference that took place in Tallinn from 10 to 12 April was the first of a series of working meetings related to this research action that will be held within the next three years. The next meeting will be held within the framework of a scientific conference that will take place in Tessaloniki, Greece in October of this year. Further information: Erik Kosenkranius Monika Kopti |
