International Nature & Forest Therapy Alliance INFTA

A Forest Therapy Guide FTG  is a trained professional who can assist and provide advice on mental and physical health as natural medicine through immersion in nature or forest like areas. Flow foREST Therapy is committed to advocating for access to nature for the wellbeing and health of everyone. For this, physical access to natural environments in our urban, state and national parks requires enhancement. I advocate for the development of Forest Therapy Roads with gentle slopes and wider paths, which are fully wheelchair accessible and allow for quiet enjoyment and physical distancing.

When people started practising Forest Bathing or Shinrin-yoku in Japan in the early 1980s, it was based on common sense and the intuitive experience that being in forests would be good for us. The Japanese people were in need of healing and the Japanese forests needed protection. It was thought that if people were encouraged to visit forests to decrease their stress and improve their health, then they would be more likely to protect and look after them also. Since then research has shown the many health benefits. I hope that by sharing Forest Therapy with you that you too will be motivated to speak for the protection of our forests. I have been a long time supporter of the Great Forest National Park GFNP Campaign. It will provide protection for many of the tall trees of the Yarra Valley.