Applying an Ecosystem Services Framework on Nature and Mental Health to Recreational Blue Space Visits Across 18 Countries

Citation

Garrett, J.K., White, M.P., Elliott, L.R., Grellier, J., Bell, S., Bratman, G.N., Economou, T., Gascon, M., Lõhmus, M., Nieuwenhuijsen, M. and Ojala, A. (2023). Applying an ecosystem services framework on nature and mental health to recreational blue space visits across 18 countries. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 2209. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28544-w

Link to file

It’s well known that spending time in nature can boost mental health. But that connection hasn’t been fully woven into the models that scientists and policymakers use to measure what nature provides (i.e., ecosystem services).

To help close that gap, researchers turned to survey data from 18 countries. They wanted to test a framework that links mental health with the benefits ecosystems offer. Their focus? Blue spaces — coasts, rivers, lakes, and other outdoor environments where water is a central feature.

The team analyzed nearly 15,000 recreational visits to these blue spaces, looking at a wide range of individual and environmental factors. What they found matched the model: a person’s mental well-being after a visit depended on a mix of things: the type and quality of the environment, the details of the visit itself, and the person’s own characteristics.

These findings matter for both public health and environmental management. They could help identify which blue-space locations, features, and activities are most likely to boost well-being. But there’s a flip side: if certain spots become more popular for their mental health benefits, that could increase recreational pressure on fragile aquatic ecosystems. Balancing those outcomes will be key.

Abstract

The effects of nature on mental health and subjective well-being have yet to be consistently integrated into ecosystem service models and frameworks. To address this gap, we used data on subjective mental well-being from an 18-country survey to test a conceptual model integrating mental health with ecosystem services, initially proposed by Bratman et al. We analysed a range of individual and contextual factors in the context of 14,998 recreational visits to blue spaces, outdoor environments which prominently feature water. Consistent with the conceptual model, subjective mental well-being outcomes were dependent upon on a complex interplay of environmental type and quality, visit characteristics, and individual factors. These results have implications for public health and environmental management, as they may help identify the bluespace locations, environmental features, and key activities, that are most likely to impact well-being, but also potentially affect recreational demand on fragile aquatic ecosystems.