Using nature-based citizen science initiatives to enhance nature connection and mental health
Date
2025
Authors
Oh, R.R.Y.
Suarez-Castro, A.F.
Fuller, R.A.
Tervo, M.
Rozario, K.
Peters, B.
Chowdhury, S.
von Gönner, J.
Friedrichs-Manthey, M.
Berger, A.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Frontiers in Environmental Science, 2025; 13:1461601-1-1461601-12
Statement of Responsibility
Rachel R. Y. Oh, Andres F. Suarez-Castro, Richard A. Fuller, Michael Tervo, Kevin Rozario, Birte Peters, Shawan Chowdhury, Julia von Gönner, Martin Friedrichs-Manthey, Ambros Berger, Tracy Schultz, Angela J. Dean, Ayesha Tulloch, and Aletta Bonn
Conference Name
Abstract
The global rise in mental health issues underscores the critical importance of assessing the mental health benefits of engaging with nature. Beyond their primary aim of involving citizens in scientific data collection, nature-based citizen science initiatives offer significant potential for enhancing outcomes related to conservation (e.g., connection to nature) and human health and wellbeing (e.g., emotions, depression, stress, anxiety). However, the effectiveness of various types of initiatives in achieving specific outcomes remain unclear. This study evaluates changes in eight outcomes related to nature connection and health and wellbeing before and after participation in five initiatives in Australia and Germany. These initiatives varied in ecosystem type (urban parks, terrestrial forests and freshwater streams) and the participation duration (from 15 min to 48 h). We assessed three dimensions of connection to nature (Self, Experience and Perspective) measured by the Nature-Relatedness scale, mental health outcomes (symptoms of depression, stress and anxiety) using the DASS-21 scale, and emotional states (positive and negative emotions) using the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE). We found that while participants generally reported improvements across all measured outcomes, only participation in the Queensland Trust for Nature initiative, characterized by its extended duration and social interactions, demonstrated statistically significant enhancements in mental health and emotions after controlling for socio-economic confounders. These findings suggest that while short-term nature-based interventions can effectively alleviate anxiety and stress symptoms and boost emotions, significant changes in nature connection and depression may require more intensive interventions than what is available through typical citizen science experiences. We advocate for reframing nature-based initiatives as integral components of broader health-promoting strategies. By aligning citizen science efforts with health promotion frameworks, these initiatives can achieve greater impact and simultaneously advance scientific understanding, support conservation strategies while improving human health.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring the Multifaceted Relationship Between Human Health and Urban Nature in Times of Crises
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© 2025 Oh, Suarez-Castro, Fuller, Tervo, Rozario, Peters, Chowdhury, von Gönner, Friedrichs-Manthey, Berger, Schultz, Dean, Tulloch and Bonn. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.