The Faculty of Forestry at the Swedish University of Living Natural Resources (SLU) is starting up a new research programme concerning forest and health. Eight projects in different parts of the country have had green light. In a wide perspective the purpose of this project is to make a contribution to ecologically, socially and financially sustainable development. By means of this project we want to stimulate research concerning the health effects and the different social values of the forest. It has proved to constitute a very important element for rehabilitation after stress related illnesses. Practically every Swede has a personal relation to the forest; walking, outdoor activities, picking berries and mushrooms, hunting and fishing are very popular leisure time activities.
Recently a theologian wrote that nature and the forest are becoming something of a new religion for Swedes. We in the faculty of forestry believe in the importance of conducting research concerning these very varied ways of using forests and concerning peoples' interplay with and experiences of the forest.