The International Nature Prescribing Alliance (INPA) has officially launched in Armenia during the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17). The alliance aims to support healthcare professionals in expanding the use of nature to improve health worldwide.
The new initiative seeks to broaden nature-based health practices and strengthen cooperation between the healthcare and environmental sectors.
Speaking at the event, the alliance’s founder, Dr Melissa Lem, a family physician and clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia, said the initiative brings together organisations from healthcare, conservation and related fields to promote nature as a means of preventing illness and maintaining physical and mental health.
Nature prescribing involves a healthcare professional advising or directing a patient to spend a specified amount of time in nature, individually or as part of a group.
“Nature is more than a pleasant place to visit. It is an important means of protecting human and planetary health. Time spent in nature is good medicine,” Melissa Lem stressed. She added that strengthening people’s connection with nature supports their health and well-being while encouraging a responsible attitude towards environmental conservation.
She said the alliance would support greater international cooperation, provide professionals with clinical and research materials, and organise expert events.
Lem also presented Canada’s PaRx programme, a national nature prescribing initiative. She said more than 22,000 healthcare professionals were registered with the programme and more than two million nature prescriptions had been issued.
Dr Andrew Day, Chief Executive Officer of the BC Parks Foundation, also discussed the alliance’s launch. He said highlighting the connection between conservation and healthcare was important in helping people understand nature’s value in their everyday lives.
Day said the expansion of PaRx had demonstrated that contact with nature could help people manage anxiety, depression and other health problems. He also stressed that conservation measures were important for protecting both ecosystems and public health.
Barnaby Coupe, Head of External Affairs at the UK’s Wildlife Trusts, outlined efforts to strengthen the connection between nature and healthcare in the United Kingdom.
He said the UK had an extensive network of local conservation organisations, but nature prescribing was not yet fully integrated into public healthcare policy. Cooperation between conservation and healthcare organisations could help ease pressure on the health service, he noted.
Citing a 2023 economic assessment, Coupe said nature-based health programmes in Wales could deliver benefits worth around £635 million annually to the UK healthcare system. He also drew attention to unequal access to nature, noting that people in more disadvantaged communities often had fewer opportunities to benefit from its health-enhancing effects.
The speakers agreed that expanding access to nature, involving healthcare professionals and developing international cooperation could improve public health while supporting biodiversity conservation.
The International Nature Prescribing Alliance invites healthcare and environmental organisations, healthcare workers and other professionals to join the initiative and contribute to the health of people, communities and the planet.
Sargis Asatryan
Published by Armenpress, original at
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