The health and wellbeing benefits of caring for nature

Participation in caring-for-nature activities generates multiple health and wellbeing benefits for humans. Indirect benefits can result from improving the health of the environment, and resultant ecosystem services – cleaner water and air, biodiversity, urban cooling, climate change mitigation etc. However, there are more direct benefits for humans that relate to the acts of participation in, for example, conservation of landscapes, waterways, wetlands, and seas; increasing biodiversity and resilience in nature; and increasing greenery in urban areas. This paper reports on the evidence of health and wellbeing benefits for humans from participation in caring-for-nature activities. It speaks to the first goal of Australia’s Strategy for Nature, which acknowledges the physical and mental health benefits of nature connection. This report starts with an overview of findings from recent, relevant scholarship. Then it takes a closer look at the findings of two population-specific, qualitative place-based studies. These examples highlight the potential that caring-for-nature activities have to positively influence health and health equities across various social and geographical gradients – and thus impact community-wide health outcomes.

This report is an output of Impact Priority area 1 (IP1): Sustainable People-Environment Interactions of the Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub, which is funded through the National Environmental Science Program.