Human health in forests: inclusion of insights from forest sciences

Forests influence positively on human well-being. Health research has demonstrated psychological and physiological effects. However, the results are not always conclusive. The forest environments have hardly been reported in the studies. Rather, «forest» is included as a generic category in health-related research. Given the complexity and number of forest structures and types, this appears to be a reductionist view. Starting from a historical perspective on mostly forest-related research on human well-being, this article contributes to integrating silvicultural perspectives more closely into interdisciplinary research on the health effects of forests on human beings and its corresponding practical applications.