A Blog by Martin Wang’endo (ACTS) and Michele Mayuba (Ryculture)
Background
Some of the common phrases used by those who get a chance to escape the confines of the concrete jungle are, “The air just feels different!” “I feel a little healthier!” and “I feel so relaxed!”.
One common factor that can be experienced and related to these emotions is the serenity of the green lush vegetation out of a city. The green vegetation and fresh air has an inexplicable calming effect. A recent study has intimated that a safe and serene environment is actually an antidote for stress: It can lower blood pressure and stress hormone levels, reduce nervous system arousal, enhance immune system function, increase self-esteem, reduce anxiety, and improve mood (Robbins, 2020). It provides a great opportunity to reflect and meditate, while further offering emotional and psychological comfort. Forests and a healthy environment; forest ecosystem which consists of a biological community consisting of all the living organisms (including humans) in a particular area and the nonliving components, such as air, water, and mineral soil, with which the organisms interact (forest ecosystem), have been known to have a positive effect and contributes greatly to our health. The forest ecosystem including the water bodies therein also provides us with our most basic needs of water, food and medicine (US EPA, 2017).
Our concerted efforts, as we work to reduce the impacts of climate change, for the benefit of our environment and ecosystem play a major role in ultimately improving our physical and mental health. This year on the 21st of March, 2023, the world commemorated the International Day of Forests. This event was themed “Forests and Health”. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention defines mental health as our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Mental health affects how we think, feel, and act. It determines how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. However, mental health is increasingly being linked to climate change and the environment. There is increasing evidence that the environment affects one’s sense of social support, comfort, and level of motivation to daily life and activities. External factors such as crime, racism, and pollution have been shown to greatly and negatively influence people’s health and safety, which can have a profound impact on mental well-being. As mentioned earlier, a healthy environment definitely has a more positive impact on your physical and mental health (Lindberg, 2023).
Slowly, we are appreciating the importance of having a healthy work and personal environment to decompress from the urbanized fast life. Although many people take up different hobbies to help decompress and feel grounded in their lives, one important constant and effective decompressor has always been green spaces. On 25th March 2023, Ryculture Health and Social Innovation, in partnership with the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), held an intimate activity at the Nairobi Arboretum. This event was to commemorate the International Day of Forest, with a focus on the Nexus between Climate Change and Mental Health with a theme on Promoting Mental Wellbeing through Healthy Environments. This was relevant due the rise in mental health disorders in the general public. The activity brought together people from diverse backgrounds, a large number of youth, some elderly, and it incorporated a range of physical and mental exercises, focus group discussions and nature walks. The focus group discussions were the highlight of the event, where the event participants got to engage in various topics about life such as relationships, family, career and education.
Key highlights
- Promoting mental wellbeing involves creating healthy environments (both physically and psychologically) free from judgment for people to express themselves and relieve their stress. In the middle of the debate of how relationships have evolved from the African traditional setting and the laughter on various embarrassing family moments common in many African homes, the general thoughts shared were such as, “The air just feels different!” “I feel a little be healthier!” and “I feel so relaxed!”. We got to understand that gardens and parks within Nairobi city, such as Jeevanjee Gardens and Uhuru Park are key in providing us little “forests” in the middle of the concrete jungle to enable us to decompress. It is important to take advantage of these green spaces not only to appreciate nature, but also to improve our wellbeing.
- Green spaces and more so a healthy environment have a direct relationship to mental health; There is growing evidence to suggest that being in nature has positive effects on people’s mental health. Studies have shown that green spaces can lower levels of stress (Wells et al, 2003) and reduce rates of depression and anxiety, reduce cortisol levels (Park et al, 2010) and improve general well-being, it is broadly conceived that the natural environment can as such enhance positive human health, especially mentally.
- The buck stops with the youth. As the day was well spent and commemorated, it was further emergent that the youth stand to either bear the brunt of a future with an unhealthy ecosystem and environment, or will be the greatest beneficiaries.
- The involvement of the youth in active conservation of the environment constitutes meaningful engagement. The youth present broadly agreed that even though in the past, society has not trusted the youth and included them in the decision making process, actively and practically participating in activities such as conservation efforts builds more confidence and trust in the youth. In this way more youth are not only meaningfully engaged, but are now considered valued stakeholders in the decision making processes such as environmental conservation that ultimately benefit the youth and societies’ health.
Conclusion
The generation of youth are constantly coming into terms with the fact that as the ‘future’ of the global societies and even more so in Sub Saharan Africa - where the youth comprise of over 70% of the population (United Nations, 2022) – they need to be more actively involved and engaged in all activities that have to do with conservation of the environment, for their own benefit and keep check on the progressive adverse effects of climate change. As more youth are becoming aware of such relationships as that of a healthy environment and mental wellbeing, it is a call to action to all of us in society to build the capacities of the youth, to provide them with knowledge and awareness on integral topics, and to create enabling environments that allow for these generation to participate in conservation efforts. This needs to go even a step further to research and data that can inform policy on all these activities involving and including the youth to meaningfully engaging them.
Further Reading
Lindberg, S. (2023). How Your Environment Affects Your Mental Health. [online] Verywell Mind. Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/how-your-environment-affects-your-mental-health-5093687#:~:text=How%20does%20environment%20affect%20mental
Park, B.J., Tsunetsugu, Y., Kasetani, T., Kagawa, T. and Miyazaki, Y. (2009). The physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing): evidence from field experiments in 24 forests across Japan. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 15(1), pp.18–26. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-009-0086-9
Robbins, J. (2020). Ecopsychology: How Immersion in Nature Benefits Your Health. [online] Yale E360. Available at: https://e360.yale.edu/features/ecopsychology-how-immersion-in-nature-benefits-your-health#:~:text=These%20studies%20have%20shown%20that.United Nations (2022). Young people’s potential, the key to africa’s sustainable development | office of the high representative for the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states. [online] Un.org. Available at: https://www.un.org/ohrlls/news/young-people%E2%80%99s-potential-key-africa%E2%80%99s-sustainable-development
US EPA, O. (2017). Ecological Condition. [online] www.epa.gov. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/report-environment/ecological-condition#:~:text=An%20%E2%80%9Cecological%20system%E2%80%9D%20(ecosystem.
Wells, N.M. and Evans, G.W. (2003). Nearby nature: A buffer of life stress among rural children. Environment and Behavior, 35(3), pp.311–330. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916503035003001
