The author of this book, Clemens G. Arvay, is the Austrian biologist who penned The Biophilia Effect examining the healing properties of nature, and forests in particular. This work is a sequel, reporting on the positive effects of plants and animals on the human immune system.
Arvay argues convincingly for the importance of trees in human nature. We evolved from forest-dwelling mammals, after all, and a verdant canopy of leaves is sown deeply into our genetic memory. He cites several clinical studies suggesting strong links between the presence of trees and human health.
"Our immune system is not strengthened by substances from trees," he asserts, "but it is rather weakened by the separation from these substances in modern life. Spending time in nature therefore does not lead to more defense cells; rather it brings their number and activity back to a natural level."
Separation from nature is as much a destroyer as any environmental toxin.
Like other eco-philosophers of our time, Arvay sees the angst of living in heirarchical structures and social stress with few avenues of escape as a chief cause of illness and depression in the modern working world. As the demands of profit and cost-effectiveness dehumanize the world we live in, opportunities to find come respite in nature become more and more important.
