KarunaNews Story

Forest bathing or therapy improves immune system function as people are exposed to the phytochemicals found in coniferous forests. In 2018, after the Camp Fire, the director of the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve, Eli Goodsell, saw a need to help people reconnect with their environment, so he applied for a grant to train guides and began offering those walks in 2021. In surveys, 92% of participants agreed that they felt more connected to nature, 87% felt less stressed. 85% were less anxious. Eco therapy program manager Blake Ellis sees forest therapy as a climate adaptation, not just a disaster response. Wildfires need to happen in order for the ecosystem to be a healthy functioning system so forest therapy may be a way to connect with nature as it is. They are looking at now doing forest therapy alongside prescribed burns for that very reason.