Integrating biodiversity conservation with outdoor recreational activities for public well-being
More than 6 million visitors enjoy the trails of the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire annually, as hiking plays a significant role in the state’s recreational tourism economy. A study supported by the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station is investigating how the biological diversity of forests impacts the psychological well-being of hikers, helping understand the relationship between nature’s variety and human health.
The interdisciplinary study is surveying recreational users and analyzing University of New Hampshire woodland properties to measure the perceptions of wildlife biodiversity and psychological wellbeing among recreational visitors; and the biodiversity of birds, mammals and frogs living in these recreational destinations.
This research will help inform outreach and educational approaches and interventions, such as signs, kiosks and nature interpretation programming, in properties managed by the UNH Office of Woodlands and Natural Areas and in other managed forested recreational areas around New Hampshire and beyond, potentially boosting psychological health benefits for hikers and informing sustainable forest management practices.
View the full statement on the NIDB.
Project supported by McIntire-Stennis funds. Photo courtesy of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station.
