LAUSR

Background and Objectives: Nowadays, a significant part of the human population lives and works in urban agglomerations. Limited contact with nature, polluted air, stress, and a sedentary work style all contribute to problems with the physical and mental health of a considerable number of city dwellers. There are many studies indicating the positive, restorative properties of natural environments, such as forests, on human well-being. Our aim was to investigate whether suburban commercial forests in combination with informal environmental education can bring restorative properties to people, especially those who are economically active. Materials and Methods: Four psychological questionnaires were used to determine the restorative properties of a suburban commercial forest on young active people: the Profile of Mood Scale (POMS), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Restorative Outcome Scale (ROS), and the Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS). The experiment involved 60 participants who took forest baths (the act of spending time in a forest and opening your senses to the natural surroundings to experience feelings of peace and wellbeing) in a suburban commercial forest surrounding Świdnik, a city of 40,000 inhabitants located directly next to Lublin (a provincial city with a population of 339,811). The volunteers were divided into three groups; Group A walked an educational route with educational boards (route A1). Group B walked another route with a forest educator who described various forest management activities conducted in this forest (route A2). Group C walked alone, without an educator, along route A2. All three groups arrived at the site of forest stand redevelopment as the end of their route. After a short 10-min exposure to this site, the volunteers again completed the psychological questionnaires. Results: Our study clearly indicates a positive effect from forest bathing in suburban commercial forests. Both the walk with a forest educator and the walk along the educational trail supported psychological recovery for the participants of the experiment, which shows that informal environmental education carried out in forests can be successfully combined with forest bathing, supporting the positive effects of this activity.