Studies showing nature helps mental health ‘limited to wealthy white people’

Over 95 per cent of such studies occur in high-income western nations, reports Aisha Rimi

New findings show a troubling lack of diversity – in participants and geography – in a fast-growing scientific field exploring nature’s effects on mental health (Joshua Brown/UVM)

Numerous studies have been published detailing the benefits of nature, forests and parks on human well-being and mental health. However, a new study has revealed how a lack of diversity in both participants and geography could threaten the ability to make such universal scientific claims.

A newly published paper shows that most studies in this field tend to look at “overwhelmingly white” western and rich nations.

The team of researchers analysed 174 peer-reviewed studies from 2010 to 2020. Their findings, published in Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, showed that study participants were mostly white and that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) communities were strongly underrepresented.