A tree a day keeps the doctor away?
A shift in public health practices is underway as policymakers and healthcare providers alike focus on the connections between nature and human health. Cities such as Johannesburg, South Africa and Seoul, South Korea have set big goals for tree planting and green space preservation to combat air pollution, which is associated with millions of premature deaths annually. In the United States, insurers and healthcare providers like Humana and Kaiser Permanente are investing in urban green space as a form of preventative care. And in Louisville, Kentucky, the first controlled clinical trial on the efficacy of urban trees as a health intervention is now underway. Meanwhile, emerging research on the significance of watersheds for rural health could drive further cooperation between global health, development and conservation professionals.