圖文見 https://www.taiwantoday.tw/news.php?post=258087&unit=12&unitname=Taiwan-Review&postname=Natural-Healing
Publication Date: September 01, 2024 | BY OSCAR CHUNG
(For the pictures, please click on the link above)
A+
Fenghuang Nature Education Area in central Taiwan is a popular site for forest therapy. (Photo by Chin Hung-hao)
Forest therapy is taking off in Taiwan’s national recreation areas.
Like many hard-working urbanites, Annie Chin (晉安妮) struggles with chronic stress and insomnia. Despite actively seeking remedies, the freelance marketing and public relations specialist from Taipei City found relief elusive until a friend recommended a natural solution. On this advice, she took a trip to scenic Xitou Nature Education Area in mountainous central Taiwan and finally found a sense of peace.
“I’m typically more of an ocean person, but the experience in the mountains made me feel relaxed in a way other activities never have,” Chin said. Since then, she has made regular trips to Xitou and other forest areas around the country. The purpose of her visits is to engage in forest therapy, an increasingly popular holistic treatment incorporating guided meditation, deep breathing exercises and sensory exploration.
Annie Chin embraces the scents and textures of nature at Fenghuang Nature Education Area. (Photo by Chin Hung-hao)
A growing number of people in Taiwan are turning to forests for stress relief following findings from the early 2010s that established a correlation between forest exposure and improved vital signs and reduced sympathetic nervous activity. The study, which was commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FANCA), along with research from institutions like National Taiwan University’s (NTU) School of Forestry and Resource Conservation, has contributed significantly to understanding how time in nature impacts the body and mind. “Scientific evidence is integral to forest therapy’s development,” NTU professor Yu Chia-pin (余家斌) said.
As a major advocate of forest therapy, Yu believes the treatment has enormous potential as the country’s population ages and the workforce faces increasing pressure. “The government currently directs a lot of resources toward health care and elderly care, and the expense will only continue to grow,” he said. “However, this could be ameliorated with forest therapy helping improve people’s health at all life stages.”
Rising Trend
Major progress was made in 2017, when FANCA designated eight of its national forest recreation areas (NFRAs) as venues for forest therapy. The selection, made in consultation with the Taiwan Forest Therapy Society (TFTS), considered criteria like accessibility, biodiversity, footpath condition and canopy coverage, inspired by standards in Germany and Japan. From Taipingshan in the north to Jhihben in the south, the sites are all rich in phytoncides, volatile organic compounds given off by trees that boost immune function, and negative ions, which reduce airborne pollutants.
Standing under towering trees in central Taiwan’s Aowanda National Forest Recreation Area, therapy participants breathe deeply. (Courtesy of FANCA)
The growing trend inspired Hong Chih-yuan (洪志遠) to found Forest Union in 2021. At that time he had managed NTU’s experimental forests in Xitou for ten years, which made him uniquely suited to lead a company organizing therapeutic forest tours. After initially operating mostly in Xitou, Forest Union expanded earlier this year to include trips in Fenghuang Nature Education Area in another section of NTU’s experimental forests.
To attract more practitioners and ensure quality standards, FANCA commissioned TFTS to create a certification system involving a series of core courses on mental health, physical fitness and nutrition, alongside electives like pole walking, horticulture therapy and aromatherapy. The courses equip therapists to design activities that immerse participants in nature during forest trips. “The key to fully relaxing is to get away from the places you go in your daily life, and the serene atmosphere of the woods is ideal,” Yu said. “If you still feel stressed after a change of environment, a well-trained therapist can guide you closer to nature and peace.”
Yoga is part of forest therapy in Xitou. (Courtesy of Forest Union)
After taking courses and passing exams, trainees must complete an internship, first assisting experienced therapists and then leading therapy groups. Last year, FANCA certified the first 45 forest therapists, with the number expected to reach 65 this year. “As an increasing number of practitioners join the field, the system helps prospective clients identify qualified professionals,” said FANCA certification holder Paul Lin (林家民). Lin often partners with Forest Union to organize one- to three-day trips. A typical day includes a wellness lecture in the morning and a relaxing excursion in the afternoon during which participants, typically aged 50 and up, take a gentle hike punctuated with activities to engage all five senses. The average walk takes about three hours, but they can also be customized to include extras like yoga and singing bowl therapy.
Expanding Reach
Though forest therapy is still a new concept in Taiwan, many are interested. Over 1,000 people have joined groups led by certified therapists in designated forest recreation areas in the first half of this year. To further popularize the activity, FANCA’s Recreation Services Section has begun organizing collaborative events with therapists and travel agencies and is designing a directory of certified practitioners for its website. “Our work initially focused on maintaining and upgrading infrastructure in national recreation areas, but now we’re diversifying as people seek more than scenery,” said Section Chief Chuang Che-wei (莊哲瑋).
Paul Lin encourages visitors to observe nature closely. (Photo by Chin Hung-hao)
FANCA also assists private forest owners with identifying wellness activities best suited to their specific landscape. “Promoting forest therapy is not only good for the natural environment but also the local economy,” Chuang added. “When you take good care of forests, people are attracted to them, and this opens up opportunities for young people in those areas to work as forest conservationists or therapists.”
At the same time, TFTS is introducing forest therapy to the public through events at accessible urban venues. Monthly one-day themed activities on the NTU campus in downtown Taipei and regular events in the nearby Daan Park offer a taste of nature’s healing properties to participants. “Our hope is that the experience will encourage people to visit forests more often,” said Yu, who recently completed a three-year study on forest therapy’s antiaging effects. “Forest therapy is proven to benefit both mental and physical health, and I believe it has huge untapped potential as preventive medicine.”
Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw