Nature’s prescription: How national parks boost your mental health

There’s something that happens when you step into a national park. The hum of everyday life fades, replaced by birdsong and the sharp, clean scent of eucalyptus. Suddenly, you can breathe again. It’s not just in your head – though technically, that’s exactly where it is.

A recent study from Griffith University has quantified what many of us instinctively understand: spending time in national parks is valuable medicine for mental health. The research found that nature-based therapy in protected areas delivers measurable wellbeing benefits that can last for up to 12 months, showing that these spaces are critical not just for the health of the planet, but for people too.

As mental health challenges rise globally, nature-based therapy in protected areas offers an accessible, evidence-based option to complement traditional treatments.

Dr Alienor Chauvenet, the study’s lead researcher and an Associate Professor at Griffith University’s School of Environment and Science, was working on a conservation science project when she first became interested in the health benefits of parks.

“I was working on protected areas from a conservation point of view, [looking at] where we should put more protected areas and what their value is for biodiversity,” she explains. “At some point, I started thinking – the biodiversity value is important, but what about the value for people visiting parks?”

What she and her team discovered has important implications for both conservation funding and public health.

Dr Chauvenet’s research builds on earlier work that found people visiting national parks report higher mental health benefits than those visiting urban parks. But her team’s study – which followed 398 participants over 24 weeks – went further, establishing a clear causal relationship between the natural setting and wellbeing outcomes.

The study examined participants in Coastrek, a 12-week nature walking program that ends with a 30-60km hiking event. The researchers measured mental wellbeing using the Personal Wellbeing Index (an internationally-recognised scientific tool for measuring quality of life) at the program’s start, end and 12 weeks afterwards. The Personal Wellbeing Index is a measure of subjective wellbeing, which asks people to self-assess their satisfaction across different aspects of their lives.

The results were striking. Participants who trained in natural settings, such as national parks, forests and bushland, showed a 5.58% improvement in their wellbeing during the program compared to those training in non-nature settings. Crucially, those benefits persisted – participants who continued training in nature retained measurable improvements well beyond the program, with modelling suggesting benefits may last up to a year when people continue training in nature.

“This is the first time we can actually demonstrate the causal relationship between being in nature and mental wellbeing,” Dr Chauvenet says. “Often people say, ‘Well, it’s the exercise.’ Yes, the exercise is important, but the setting also matters. It was super exciting to actually be able to prove that the setting in nature gave you more benefits and those benefits lasted longer compared to the same activity in a built-up area.”

Research shows mental health benefits are enhanced by greater biodiversity, the presence of large individual trees, wildlife sightings, bird song and other natural sights, sounds and scents. These elements create opportunities for “nature connectedness” – a mindful engagement with the natural world that appears central to wellbeing benefits.

“One of the mechanisms we think is, that connectedness, that mindfulness,” says Dr Chauvenet. “It’s experiencing your senses, your emotions, that connection you might achieve. It might be easier to get it in a more natural setting like a national park because there’s less distraction or because of the higher number of nature elements, such as more wildlife and higher tree density.”

The economic implications of Dr Chauvenet’s findings are substantial. Using economic modelling, her team has calculated that people visiting national parks could receive significant mental health benefits. For participants who followed the program’s recommended training regime – walking with others for more than five hours per week in natural settings – the estimated health benefits were worth about $4,000 per person over 24 weeks. When you scale that up to programs like Coastrek, with around 10,000 participants nationally each year, the health services value reaches $20 million per annum.

“That’s a lot of money in terms of public health savings – Medicare, hospital visits you might not have to spend money on,” she notes. “Poor mental health also leads to unpaid work caring for people who are struggling. It’s worth a lot of money.”

Dr Chauvenet is clear that nature therapy isn’t a replacement for traditional mental healthcare. “It’s complementary,” she emphasises. “But we also have to acknowledge that mental health services are expensive and have waiting lists. Nature is something you can access while you’re navigating those systems.”

The research also revealed that people starting with lower wellbeing scores benefited most from nature-based activities – a pattern Dr Chauvenet has now observed across multiple studies.

“People with lower levels of mental health get the greatest benefits from nature experiences,” she says. “The evidence is clear across multiple studies and settings that those with lower starting mental health get the most benefits from being in natural settings.”

However, she acknowledges an important caveat: “We also have to recognise that people with lower mental health might struggle more to actually do this. They might face additional barriers to access nature-based therapies.”

The study also confirmed the importance of social connection. Participants who trained with others rather than alone showed greater improvements in wellbeing – highlighting how group walks and social nature experiences can amplify mental health benefits.

Easy walks to get you started

If you’re thinking about giving nature therapy a go, NSW has heaps of accessible walking tracks that make it easy to dip your toe in (sometimes literally). Here are some awesome accessible options across the state.

Sydney and surrounds: Fairfax Heritage walking track is a wheelchair-friendly, 1.8km track in Blackheath offering wildflowers, scenic lookouts and waterfall views. For something closer to the city, check out Jennifer Street boardwalk – a short, smooth 0.7km return track at La Perouse – or Fairfax walk, a gentle 1km loop setting out from North Head with epic harbour views.

North Coast: Sea Acres Rainforest boardwalk is a 1.3km loop through the rainforest canopy near Port Macquarie – you’ll be surrounded by green and the sound of rainforest birds.

Country NSW: Sawn Rocks walking track, an easy 1.5km walk near Narrabri, follows a shady creekside track to spectacular organ-pipe cliff formations.

Snowy Mountains: Bundilla accessible track is a 1.1km return track in the Thredbo-Perisher area that’s great for walkers, cyclists, wheelchair users and families.

South Coast: Boyds Tower walking track, near Eden, is an easy walk to historic Boyds Tower with spectacular whale watching opportunities.

Find more access-friendly walking tracks.

While Dr Chauvenet’s study focused on general wellbeing rather than specific diagnoses, a growing body of research is exploring nature-based interventions for conditions including PTSD, anxiety, depression and ADHD.

For people experiencing PTSD, particularly veterans, the research is promising. Studies of veterans participating in nature-based programs have found significant reductions in symptoms – one study reported a 29% decrease in PTSD symptoms a week after white-water rafting trips. Other research on long-term nature therapy for veterans found that participants gained new tools for managing stressful situations and experienced improvements in symptoms.

For children with ADHD, the evidence is equally encouraging. Research from the University of Illinois found that a 20-minute walk through a park was as effective as common ADHD medication for temporarily improving concentration. Large-scale studies have also shown that children living in greener areas have a lower risk of developing ADHD, and that children with ADHD who regularly play in green settings have milder symptoms than those who play indoors or in built environments.

For Dr Chauvenet, the mental health benefits of national parks represent a missing link in conservation advocacy – one that could reshape how we value and fund protected areas.

“As conservation scientists, we have been trying to connect people to nature, to the state of the environment, to climate change for decades,” she says. “We have all the facts. But not enough is changing.”

The key, she believes, is connecting conservation to people’s interests – specifically, their mental health and ability to function in daily life. This creates what Dr Chauvenet calls a reciprocal relationship: protected areas support human health, which in turn builds public support for conservation.

Of course, increased visitation raises concerns about ecological impacts, something Dr Chauvenet takes seriously as a conservation scientist.

“National parks are highly protected with a conservation mission first, and there’s a very limited, non-destructive use of nature,” she says. “For nature therapy programs, you’d really want to have limits, plan routes with parks’ agencies, and ensure financial benefits flow back into conservation and management.”

You don’t need to commit to a 12-week structured program to experience mental health benefits from nature. Dr Chauvenet’s advice is simple: start where you are.

“Ideally, go once a week for a two-hour walk in a national park – you’ll get the most benefits," she says. “But my advice is that not everybody can do that. So go for a walk, or if you’d rather go for a run, wear your headphones – whatever works for you. Anything is better than nothing.”

While some research suggests a dose of two hours per week in nature, Dr Chauvenet is wary of prescriptive recommendations that might discourage people from starting.

“That two-hour-per-week figure is being used a lot, but it probably doesn’t take into account people’s ability, culture, or even who you are as a person,” she explains. “If you think, ‘I can’t do two hours a week,’ you might not do any. Don’t let that stop you.”

Based on the research findings, here’s what appears to maximise mental health benefits:

• Aim for regular visits: consistency matters more than intensity. Even short, regular visits build lasting benefits.
• Choose biodiverse environments: national parks, state forests and bushland areas appear to deliver greater benefits than manicured urban parks, though any nature is better than none.
• Walk with others when possible: the social component amplifies wellbeing outcomes. You might join group walks or make it a day out with friends.
• Tune in to your surroundings: practice noticing what you see, hear and smell. That mindful connection is where the magic happens. Make it a habit: mental health benefits fade when people stop visiting parks, so building a sustained routine is crucial for long-term wellbeing.

Dr Chauvenet is also clear that there’s no “right” way to experience nature, and resists gatekeeping approaches to nature connection.

“If somebody wants to listen to an audiobook or music as they walk, that’s fine,” she says. “As long as you’re getting that connection, do what works for you.”

Dr Chauvenet hopes that this growing body of evidence will help to bridge the gap between individual interests and conservation goals. “I think that’s how we connect people to conservation in a way we’ve been missing.”

For readers considering their first visit to a national park, or their first visit in a long time, Dr Chauvenet’s shares this encouraging message:

“Take a second to pay attention to what it is that’s making you feel good,” she suggests. “Is it the wind on your face? Is it the birds? Practice five minutes of connection with where you are, and you will get benefits.”