A major five-year study finds that urban woodlands and mental health are closely connected, with well-kept city woods linked to fewer antidepressant prescriptions in Scotland’s poorest neighborhoods.
Urban woodlands and mental health appear to move together, according to new research from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Scientists tracked more than 129,000 people across Scotland over five years. They found that people living close to improved woodlands used less medication for depression and anxiety.
The study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, used National Health Service prescription records alongside census data. Researchers compared people living within a 10-minute walk of an upgraded woodland to those living farther away. The gap in medication use was substantial.
People near a well-maintained, welcoming woodland were 10% less likely to be prescribed antidepressants. They were also 6% less likely to need anti-anxiety medication. That pattern held even after researchers accounted for income, demographics, and other factors known to affect mental health.
This is one of the largest studies of its kind linking urban woodlands and mental health outcomes. The woodland upgrades came through Scottish Forestry’s Woods In and Around Towns program (WIAT). Funding paid for new footpaths, better signage, and community events in areas that needed it most.
The program specifically targeted socially and financially disadvantaged communities. These are often the places with the least access to quality parks and green space to begin with. By focusing improvements there, researchers could measure whether fixing a woodland actually changed people’s health, not just their surroundings.
What makes this research especially convincing is how it tracked people over time. When someone moved closer to an improved woodland, their need for medication tended to drop. When they moved farther away, that protective effect faded.
The connection between urban woodlands and mental health was strengthened with a telling finding: when people moved closer to improved woodlands, their need for antidepressants fell, and when they moved away, the protective effect faded with them. Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Pexels.
That detail matters. Earlier studies often compared different people living in different neighborhoods at a single moment. This approach made it hard to know whether nature improved mental health, or whether healthier people simply chose to live near woodlands already.
By following the same individuals as their circumstances changed, researchers could rule out that explanation. Professor Catharine Ward Thompson, who led the study at the University of Edinburgh’s OPENspace Research Centre, said the findings offer stronger evidence on the link between urban woodlands and mental health than earlier research managed to provide. She added that the benefits may help reduce mental health inequalities across the population.
Dr. Scott Ogletree, who carried out the analysis, said the project marks the first time mental health service data has been linked to a long-term national urban forestry program. He noted that relatively modest investments in local green space can meaningfully improve people’s wellbeing. Nature-based programs like WIAT, he said, can support broader efforts to improve mental health.
The scale of the problem makes this evidence timely. Around one in eight people worldwide live with a mental health condition, and people in poorer communities are often hit hardest. These same communities often have the least access to high-quality woodlands and parks.
Scotland’s government has pointed to this research as support for its wider environmental goals. Officials cited a target of creating 18,000 hectares of new woodland every year by 2029 to 2030. That commitment extends to urban tree planting aimed at improving air quality and quality of life.
The connection between urban woodlands and mental health also fits into a broader pattern seen elsewhere, where community-driven tree planting has helped cool neighborhoods and improve public health by giving residents a direct role in restoring local green space. Programs like these suggest the benefits of investing in trees extend well beyond any single country.
The research team behind the Scottish study has spent more than 20 years gathering evidence on the social value of local woodlands, working alongside Scottish Forestry and Forest Research. Their latest findings add a rigorous, long-term dataset to a growing conversation about nature-based public health policy. Funding came from the Economic and Social Research Council and the GroundsWell Consortium, a UK research partnership focused on how green and blue spaces reduce health inequalities.
None of this suggests woodlands replace clinical care for depression or anxiety. What it does suggest is that a safe, welcoming patch of trees within walking distance can meaningfully shift the odds. As more cities weigh where to spend limited public money, the growing evidence on urban woodlands and mental health makes a strong case for choosing the trail over the parking lot.
