32 Chapter 1 - Theoretical Framework of Forest Therapy

1.3 Updating the biophilia hypothesis in the context

of forest medicine
Clemens G. Arvay

1.3.1 Abstract
The concept of biophilia describes the human affinity to the
phenomenon of life and the natural world. It can be approached from a
psychoanalytic perspective and from the perspective of evolutionary
biology. Evidences of the last decades support the idea that contacts to
nature and other life forms improve human welfare and health on the
psychological and physiological level. With the recent findings of forest
medicine the biophilia concept receives strong biomedical support.
Evidences of forest medicine confirm the existence of a significant health
impact of natural surroundings on the human organism, that goes far beyond
psychological outcomes.

1.3.2 The psychoanalytic approach to biophilia

In his essay “The Heart of Man” the German-American sociologist and
psychoanalyst Erich Fromm was the first to introduce the term “biophilia”,
also referred to as “biophily” (Fromm, 1964). Under the influence of
Sigmund Freud´s drive theory he elaborated a depth-psychological model of
the human psyche, in which two antagonistic mental forces play a major
role. Regarding to Fromm the force of biophilia (ancient Greek bios “life”,
philia “love”) is associated with a loving and respecting attitude towards life
itself and other life forms. It becomes manifest in the feeling of being
“attracted” to “living and growing processes in all areas”, as Fromm put it
(1979, p. 42, translated from German). Similarly to Freud´s “eros” (life
instinct) biophilia is associated with life- and health-promoting mental
processes.
Neither biophilia nor eros should be understood as “sex drive”. Freud´s
concept of eros has often been misinterpreted in this way, but Freud himself
made clear that he intended a platonic view of eros targeting the human
“will to live”. Eros favours the creation and sustainment of life (Freud,
1959, p. 163-174). Fromm´s conceptualization of biophilia is significantly
broader than Freud´s conceptualization of eros. Fromm emphasizes that the
biophilic tendency applies not only to the life of the individual itself or on
Chapter 1 - Theoretical Framework of Forest Therapy 33

human life, but extends beyond the border of the human species. It applies
to all creatures that are alive as well as to the processes and phenomena of
life. Fromm (1977, p. 411) wrote: “Biophilia is the dedicated love to life
and all living; it is the desire to foster all growth, no matter if it concerns a
human, a plant, an idea or a social group” (translated from German). With
this definition Fromm´s concept of biophilia achieves psychological,
medical, ecological and sociological relevance.
Regarding to Fromm the biophilic force is opposed by it´s antagonist
“necrophilia”, also referred to as “necrophily” (ancient Greek necros
“death”, philia “love”). This aversion to life and other life forms is
associated with ecological destruction, mental or physical disease,
aggression, social dysfunction and death (Fromm 1979, p. 45ff). Fromm
established a differentiation between his concept of necrophilia and Freud´s
idea of “thanatos” (death drive). He stressed that necrophilia is an
alternative to biophilia, but identifies it as a psychopathologic phenomenon
and not co-equal to biophilia, whereas he interprets Freud´s thanatos as a
natural tendency that is co-equal to eros (Fromm, 1977, p. 411ff). On the
other hand side there are parallels between necrophilia and thanatos:
Similarly to Freud, Fromm describes the growth rate of necrophilia as
negatively correlated to the growth rate of biophilia. Necrophilia increases
as the development of biophilia is stunted.

1.3.3 The evolutionary approach: the biophilia hypothesis

Already psychoanalyst Erich Fromm described biophilia as a biological
property of humans (“Man is biologically endowed with the capacity for
biophilia (…)”, Fromm, 1973, p. 366). In 1984 the evolutionary biologist
and myrmecologist Edward O. Wilson introduced the biophilia hypothesis.
He defined biophilia as “the innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike
processes” (Wilson, 1984, p. 1). Later Wilson extended his definition of
biophilia by adding a clause that refers to the emotional aspect of the
concept: “The phenomenon has been called biophilia, defined as the innate
tendency to focus upon life and lifelike forms, and in some instances to
affiliate with them emotionally” (Wilson, 2003, p. 134).
With those definitions it is obvious that the biophilia hypothesis
postulates the human urge to affiliate with life or lifelike processes to be
genetically inherited (“innate”). This approach to the “human bond with
other species”, as Wilson described it in the subtitle of his original
publication, is clearly an evolutionary – und thus a biological – approach.
With his fundamental work Wilson opened the field of biophilia for
biological research and other disciplines of natural sciences.
34 Chapter 1 - Theoretical Framework of Forest Therapy

If biophilia exists as an innate human property, as the biophilia

hypothesis proclaims, the question arises, how this tendency could have
evolved within the human species. “The likely answer is biocultural
evolution, during which culture was elaborated under the influence of
hereditary learning propensities while the genes prescribing the propensities
were spread by natural selection in a cultural context”, wrote Wilson (1993,
p. 32). Regarding to this paradigm biophilia is a part of human nature which
was shaped by mutual influences between humans and their natural habitats
during the phylogenetic development of our species. The mechanisms of
this “biophilic evolution”, which had a biological as well as a cultural
dimension, were similar to those of other complex behaviours. Learning
certain responses to the environment might have led to successful
behavioural adaptions to the environment while dysfunctional learning or
resistance against learning might have brought an evolutionary disadvantage
for these individuals and groups. Also our emotional responses to certain
environmental stimuli were shaped during this development.
Within the scientific community it is widely accepted that the
behavioural and emotional responses of modern humans to natural stimuli
are partly the result of our evolutionary past. For example aversion to
snakes is genetically predetermined in humans and other primates, even if
modified by individual learning or group learning (Archer, 1979, p. 56ff;
Bartecki et al., 1987, p. 199ff). Anxiety-reaction when opposed to (big)
spiders is very common beyond humans and can be traced back to a
phylogenetic and, thus, genetic predisposition (New et al., 2014, p. 165ff),
whereas it might be overlain by social conditioning. When walking on a
rock face near a deep precipice most of us would show signs of anxiety as
the result of an involuntary activation of the sympathetic nervous network
that is associated with higher heart rate and blood pressure, increased blood
glucose level, increased release of stress hormones such as cortisol and
adrenaline, decreased blood supply to the digestive organs, increased blood
supply to our extremities, activation of our sensory organs, higher muscle
tension to the point of physical trembling, decreasing HRV (heart rate
variability), yet in the case of severe anxiety even the feeling of
derealisation. We are genetically endowed with those physiological
reactions of our organism and the corresponding anxiety behaviours.
Physiological and behavioural reactions in response to specific
environmental stimuli are regulated mainly by the brain stem and the limbic
system in close cooperation with the vegetative nervous system (Bear et al.,
2012, p. 519ff). These innate and unconscious processes can be interpreted
as the result of human phylogenesis.
Anxiety responses to natural stimuli are situated on what is referred to
by some as the “biophobic side of the biophilia hypothesis”. They are
examples of how to find traces of our evolutionary past in the emotional and
Chapter 1 - Theoretical Framework of Forest Therapy 35

behavioural nature of modern humans regarding the environment. By means

of these widely accepted examples it can be demonstrated that humans are
genetically endowed to react to certain natural stimuli such as animals,
smells, sounds, plants and even geomorphic structures in a certain way.
These innate reactions are correlated with phylogenetically earlier human
learning experiences and cannot be explained only by ontogenetic
development, individual experience or social conditioning.
The biophilia hypothesis clearly focuses on the attraction of natural
stimuli on humans: “Human beings sharply distinguish the living from the
inanimate. We esteem novelty and diversity in other organisms. We are
thrilled by the prospect of unknown creatures, whether in the deep sea, the
unbroken forest, or remote mountains. We are riveted by the idea of life on
other planets. Dinosaurs are our icons of vanished biodiversity. More people
visit zoos in the United States than attend professional sports events. Their
favourite site in the National Zoo of Washington, D.C., is the insect exhibit,
representing maximum novelty and diversity” (Wilson, 2003, p. 134).
Emotionally, behaviourally and physiologically advantageous reactions
to the natural environment as well as preferences for specific natural stimuli
or landscape types build what some author like to call “the biophilic side of
the biophilia hypothesis”.

1.3.4 Savannah in our genes: biophilic responses to natural

stimuli
Like anxiety responses, advantageous responses to the natural
environment can partly be traced back to learning experiences during
human phylogenesis. When young children from the Northeast of the USA
were asked to select a preferred landscape from a set of different landscape
photographs (Falk & Balling, 1982, p. 5-28) there was a significant
preference of the savannah type (grassed area with solitary trees and tree
groups). The same visual preference could be found in probands of different
age in Nigeria, who were settled in the zonobiome of tropical rainforests
(Falk & Balling, 2010, p. 479ff). 80 percent of these subjects had never in
their lives left the rainforest and thus never entered the savannah. These
findings correspond with the hypothesis that humans are endowed with a
genetically inherited preference of savannah-like landscape types. Indeed
the savannah-hypothesis that proclaimed that humans achieved bipedalism
and upright walk as a direct result of the transition from arboreal life to a
life in savannahs (Dart, 1925, p. 195ff) has been falsified on the basis of
bone fossils of Australopithecus africanus (3,3-2,1 m yrs. bef. pres.) and
Australopithecus afarensis (3,9-2,9 m yrs. bef. pres.). These findings
showed that, contradictory to the savannah-hypothesis, bipedalism likeably
36 Chapter 1 - Theoretical Framework of Forest Therapy

occurred approx. four million years ago as an adaptation for locomotion on

flexible branches as well as on the ground of woodlands (Green et al., 2017,
pp. 514-517; Thorpe et al., 2007, pp. 1328-1331). But it remains
unquestioned that savannahs play a significant role as habitats in the
evolution and brain development of the early Homo sapiens and its ancestral
species of the genera Australopithecus and Homo. Wilson (2003, p. 136)
noted in context with the savannah habitat that “(…) Homo sapiens is likely
to be genetically specialized for the ancestral environment so that today,
even in the most sequestered stone-and-glass cities, we still prefer it”.
Further, it should be mentioned that most urban parks and green spaces
nowadays are designed following the archetype of the savannah landscape
(grassed areas with solitary trees and tree groups). Beyond landscape
architects this setting of green elements is widely accepted as advantageous
regarding the recreational impact on human visitors.
When probands were asked to select from a collection of tree
photographs they significantly preferred the prototype of the savannah tree
(umbrella-like canopies that are broader than they are tall and therefore have
protective and shady properties; easily accessible trunk with branching
below half of it´s height so that it could be climbed in the case of danger;
layered branching system with small leaves that allows movement in the
canopy; potential food tree) (Orians, 1986). This suggests that we
unconsciously include functionality into our aesthetic perception of
landscapes and that this functionality correlates with survival needs of early
humans. From 2011 to 2018 visitors in my lectures were surveyed
informatively. On a regular basis they were asked which landscape they
would prefer for relaxation and recovery from stress. A significant majority
of the respondents described natural settings that have similarities with the
savannah type (green meadows with trees, forest glades, grassed area at the
edge of a woodland). These answers support a theory often discussed in the
context of the biophilia hypothesis. The savannah setting might be
advantageous regarding our physiological stress control. In open green
spaces with solitary trees and hedges we have a good overview of our
surroundings. Spaces or hiding places of potentially dangerous impacts are
rare. We can see far and do not feel “trapped”. This might lead to an
increase of parasympathetic activity, induced by the brain stem and the
limbic system as central control points of stress and anxiety responses.
Increasing parasympathetic activity is associated with lower release of stress
hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, lower blood pressure, increasing
HRV (heart rate variability), decreasing blood glucose level, increased
blood flow to the digestive organs, muscle relaxation and the feeling of
calmness as well as increased creativity and free thinking (Bear et al., 2012,
p. 519ff). Our neurobiological stress systems seem to “know” which
Chapter 1 - Theoretical Framework of Forest Therapy 37

elements of the environment indicate for the need of alarming (“fight or

flight”) or which allow relaxation (“regeneration and growth”).
We can conclude that the human brain is an evolved organ, shaped by
interactions with and learning experiences in the natural habitats of our
ancestors. The brain is an “environmental organ” that permanently monitors
our surroundings, analyzes the actual environmental stimuli and induces
certain responses based on phylogenetic and ontogenetic learning. But in the
context of the biophilia hypothesis we should keep in mind that these
genetic predispositions are modified by individual experiences and cultural
socialisation. Wilson noted that “(…) biophilia is not a single instinct but a
complex of learning rules that can be teased apart and analyzed
individually” (Wilson, 1993, p. 31). The evolutionary and, thus, genetic
predispositions build the frame in which learning and behaviour can take
place. In Wilson´s words: “To say that there is an instinct, or more
accurately an array of instincts, that can be labelled biophilia, is not to imply
that the brain is hardwired. We do not ambulate like robots to the nearest
lakeshore meadow. Instead the brain is predisposed to acquire certain
preferences as opposed to others. Psychologists say that we are hereditarily
prepared to learn certain behaviors and counterprepared to learn others”
(Wilson, 2002, p. 31). In this context, German-speaking behavioural
biologists often use the term Werkzeugkiste (“toolbox”). The brain is
equipped with a “biological toolbox” of behaviours and responses. Within
this frame we can develop individually.

1.3.5 Biophilia in the context of forest medicine

“Good habitats should evoke strong positive responses; poor habitats
should evoke weak or even negative responses,” wrote Orians & Heerwagen
(1993, p. 140) referring to the biophilia hypothesis. Many people would
probably intuitively agree that a degraded or devastated landscape is
associated with negative emotional responses while an intact ecosystem like
a forest, a river or a lake causes feelings that can be summarized as
“positive”. We seem to be equipped with “emotional sensors” for an intact
vs. a degraded ecosystem. These emotional responses are another indication
for biophilia as an ultimate part of human nature. But the health impacts of
biophilic responses go far beyond the mere feeling of comfort or joy.
Berman et al. (2015) found that more urban trees in Chicago would lead
to a significant health impact for the residents (decreased intake of
medicine, decreased rate of cardiovascular diseases and other chronic
diseases). In this study epidemiologic data were combined with satellite data
and cartographic quantification of trees. From a statistical view the study
came to the conclusion that just 10 additional trees around the place of
38 Chapter 1 - Theoretical Framework of Forest Therapy

residence of an average city dweller in Chicago would lead to a health effect

comparable to an increase of USD 20,000 of annual income or an age
decrease of seven years. Barton & Pretty (2010) found in a meta-analysis
that there is evidence for a significant benefit of walking or exercising in
nature for patients with major depression, whereby they identified the
combination of forests and water bodies as the most efficient landscape
setting to decrease symptoms of depression. Morita et al. (2007) registered a
significant decrease of hostility and depression scores in 498 probands on
day trips into a forest area compared to the control days.
One of the first to investigate the physical health impact of natural
stimuli in a clinical setting was the architect Roger Ulrich. He found
evidence that the mere view through a hospital window on a green space
with a tree improved the recovery of patients after a standardized gall
bladder surgery. In this trial the patients with tree view could be released
from the hospital significantly earlier than those patients who could only see
a house wall through their windows. Furthermore the “tree-group” needed
significantly lower doses of painkillers as well as weaker pharmaceutical
substances. The postoperative complication rate in the “tree group” was
lower than in the “house wall group”, but this effect was not statistically
relevant and might have been a secondary result of the decreased intake of
painkillers (Ulrich, 1984, p. 420-422). A similar clinical study found that
gynaecological patients who were accommodated in hospital rooms with
direct incidence of sunlight needed a 41 percent shorter retention time and
22 percent lower doses of pain medication compared to patients
accommodated in rooms without direct sunlight incidence (Choi, 2005).
Already in his early research Roger Ulrich could register with the help of
EEG (electroencephalography) that the view of nature scenes via
photographic slides increased alpha wave activity in the brains of his
probands. Alpha waves are associated with relaxation and parasympathetic
activity, and therefore with regeneration and growth. This is one possible
explanation of how natural stimuli could improve the recovery of hospital
patients.
Evidences of forest medicine brought a new perspective into the concept
of biophilia. Forest medicine can be classified as a biomedical paradigm. It
takes a closer look at the biological processes that take place in our
organism when we are in nature. This approach enriches our understanding
of the impact of natural stimuli on the level of our organic and cellular
health. Is there a scientific confirmation of the feeling of so many people all
around the world who report that being in nature is good for their health?
Using the forest to preserve health or to support healing processes has a
long tradition in many cultures. “Forest Bathing” has been practiced in
China for a long time as Senlinyu. Since 1982 it is intensely researched in
Japan as Shinrin-yoku. It is well known in South Korea as Sanlimyok. Forest
Chapter 1 - Theoretical Framework of Forest Therapy 39

medicine brings the scientific support and biological understanding of the

organic processes when we are in nature or exposed to natural stimuli.
Tsunetsugu et al. (2007) registered physiological changes in 12 male
subjects during and after forest walks. The level of saliva cortisol decreased
significantly, the HRV (heart rate variability) increased and blood pressure
as well as heart rate were significantly lower. Li (2010) found evidence that
forest trips significantly increase the number and activity of human NK cells
(natural killer cells) as well as the anti-carcinogenic immune proteins
perforin, granulysin and granzymes A/B. This effect could partly be linked
to the inhalation of volatile plant compounds (terpenes such as α-pinene, d-
limonene or 1,8-cineole) from the forest air.
The biomedical evidences of forest medicine document the
physiological aspects of biophilia. Traditionally the biophilia hypothesis
focused on emotional and psychological aspects of the human bond with
nature or on nature fascination. With the findings of forest medicine the
biophilia concept is supported by a science that deals (not only) with the
“somatic biophilic responses” of the human organism. In context with the
biophilia hypothesis we could argue that the human organism has co-
evolved with other species and in interrelation with the natural habitats of
our ancestors. Our organism is genetically “adjusted” to function in a
natural context and under natural influences. This applies to the
physiological or somatic level as much as it applies to the human psyche
and emotional life.
In summary, we can assume that there is a lot of evidence and logical
argumentation to support the biophilia hypothesis and that the majority of
humans do have an inherent affinity to the phenomenon of life and the
natural world. This affinity has an emotional and psychological as well as a
physiological and somatic dimension.

References

Alemseged, G. and Zeresany, D. (2017), Australopithecus afarensis

Scapular Ontonegy, Function, and the Role of Climbing in Human
Evolution. In: Science, Vol. 338(6106), American Association for the
Advancement of Science, pp. 514-517.
Archer, J. (1979), Behavioural Aspects of Fear, in: Sluckin Wladyslaw
(editor), Fear in Animals and Man, pp. 56-85. New York: Van Nostrand
Reinhold.
Bartecki U., and Heymann E.W. (1987), Field Observations of Snake-
Mobbing in a Group of Saddle-Back Tamarins, Saguinus fuscicollis
nigrifrons. In Folia Primatol. Vol. 48, pp. 199-207.
40 Chapter 1 - Theoretical Framework of Forest Therapy

Barton, J. and Pretty, J. (2010). What is the best Dose of Nature and
Green Exercise for improving Mental Health – A Multi-Study Analysis. In
Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 44, Vol. 10, pp. 3947–
3955.
Bear, M., Connors, B. and Paradiso, M. (2012), Neuroscience –
Exploring the Brain (International Edition). Alphen aan den Rijn/The
Netherlands: Wolters Kluwer.
Berman, M., Kardan, O., Gozdyra, P., Misic, B., Moola, F., Palmers, L.
and Paus, T. (2015), Neighborhood Greenspace and Health in a large Urban
Center. In: Nature, Scientific Reports, 5 (11610).
Choi, J. (2005), Study of the Relationship between Indoor Daylight
Environments and Patient Average Length of Stay (ALOS) in Health Care
Facilities, Masters Thesis, Texas A&M University.
Dart Raymond (1925), Australopithecus africanus – The Man-Ape of
South Africa, in: Nature, vol. 115, pp. 195-199.
Falk John and Balling John (1982), Development of Visual Preference
of Natural Environments, in: Environment and Behaviour, vol. 14, Sage
Publications, Newbury Park.
Falk, J. and Balling, J.(2010), Evolutionary Influence on Human
Landscape Preference, in: Environment and Behaviour, vol. 42, iss. 10, pp.
479-493.
Freud, S. (1959), The Resistance to Psycho-Analysis, in: James Strachey
(editor), The Collected Papers of Sigmund Freud, vol. 5. New York: Basic
Books.
Fromm, E. (1964), The Heart of Man – It´s Genius for Good and Evil,
in: Ruth Nanda Anshen, Religious Perspectives, vol. 12. New York: Harper
and Row.
Fromm, E. (1973), The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness. New York:
Rinehart and Winston / Holt.
Fromm, E. (1979), Die Seele des Menschen – ihre Fähigkeit zum Guten
und Bösen. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlagsanstalt.
Fromm, E., (1977), Anatomie der menschlichen Destruktivität, Stuttgart:
Rowohlt Verlag.
Morita E., Fukuda S., Nagano J., Hamajima N., Yamamoto H., Iwai Y.,
Nakashima T., Ohira H. and Shirakawa T. (2007), Psychological Effects of
Forest Environments on Healthy Adults – Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Air
Bathing, walking), as a possible method of stress reduction. In: Public
Health, vol. 121 (1), pp. 54-63.
New, J. and German, T. (2014), Spiders at the Cocktail Party – An
ancestral threat that surmounts in attentional blindness. In: Evolution and
Human Behavior, vol. 36, pp. 165-173.
Chapter 1 - Theoretical Framework of Forest Therapy 41

Orians, G. (1986), An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach to

Landscape Aesthetics, in: Penning-Rowsell E. and Lowenthal D. (eds),
Landscape Meanings and Values. London: Allen & Unwin.
Orians, G. and Heerwagen, J. (1993), Humans, Habitats and Aesthetics,
in: Kellert Stephen R. and Wilson Edward O. (editors), The Biophilia
Hypothesis, p. 138-172. Washington D.C. / Covelo: Island Press /
Shearwater Books.
Thorpe S., Holder R. and Crompton R. (2007), Origin of Human
Bipedalism as an Adaption for Locomotion on flexible branches. In Science,
American Association for the Advancement of Science, Vol. 316(5829), p.
1328-1331
Tsunetsugu Y., Park B., Ishii H., Hirano H., Kagawa T. and Miyazaki Y.
(2007), Physiological Effects of Shinrin-Yoku (taking in the atmosphere of
the forest) in and old-growth broadleaf forest in Yamagata Prefecture
(Japan). In: Journal of Physiological Anthropology, vol. 26 (2), March, pp.
135-142.
Ulrich, R. (1984), View through a Window may influence Recovery
from Surgery, in: Science, vol. 224, Washington, D. C., pp. 420-422.
Wilson, E.O. (1984), Biophilia – The Human Bond with other Species.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Wilson, E.O. (1993), Biophilia and the Conservation Ethic, in: Kellert
Stephen R. and Wilson Edward O. (editors), The Biophilia Hypothesis,
Island Press / Shearwater Books, p. 31-41, Washington D.C. / Covelo.
Wilson, E.O. (2003), The Future of Life. New York: Vintage Books.