Nature Soundscapes – additional evidence

A team of researchers from the University of Exeter “analysed data . . . collected as part of the BBC’s . . . Forest 404. . . .Participants listened to a range of environments in the study, from coastal and woodland settings in the UK, to a tropical rainforest in Papua New Guinea. . . . Participants reported therapeutic effects from listening to landscape elements such as breaking waves or falling rain. Hearing wildlife in these environments, and birdsong in particular, enhanced their potential to provide recovery from stress and mental fatigue. . . . Those who had memories triggered by the sounds not only found them more restorative, but this increase in ‘therapeutic potential’ fed directly into their desire to protect the soundscapes. . . . soundscapes without the sounds of wildlife . . . reduced this potential for psychological benefits, with people’s motivation to protect those ecosystems also appearing to follow suit.”

“Sounds of Nature Benefit Mental Health and Promote Environmental Protection.”  2022. Press release, University of Exeter, https://news-archive.exeter.ac.uk/homepage/title_904910_en.html