B.C. doctor takes Canada's nature prescriptions global at biodiversity summit

A B.C. doctor behind Canada’s successful nature prescribing program, which allows doctors to recommend patients spend time outdoors or write prescriptions for free park passes, is taking the idea global.

Dr. Melissa Lem, a Vancouver family physician who founded the International Nature Prescribing Alliance, is in Armenia this week to launch the physician-led initiative at the COP17 biodiversity summit.

The aim of the alliance is to get more countries involved in doctors prescribing nature to help with mental and physical well-being, similar to Canada’s program called PaRx, a national nature prescription program started by the B.C. Parks Foundation and endorsed by the Canadian Medical Association.

Research shows that spending as little as two hours in nature each week can improve physical and mental health, according to doctors at PaRx.

Health-care providers who use the program can write prescriptions that give patients access to park passes and other offers from partners, for example free or reduced-cost passes for B.C. parks or tickets to view nature art at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The PaRx program is growing, and now has more than 22,000 health-care providers on board, said Lem, who is also past-president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

Reached in Armenia, Lem said the alliance, which is a collaboration with the B.C. Parks Foundation, the Wildlife Trusts, and the Raffi Foundation for Child Honouring, started because environmental leaders in other countries were asking how to tailor Canada’s nature prescription program to suit their regions.

“After we announced the collaborations with different outdoor-focused organizations, like Parks Canada, to reduce barriers to nature access through free or discounted passes … countries reached out over and over again, saying, ‘We want what you have in Canada,’ ” said Lem.

Part of the alliance’s online hub will include an interactive map to show where all the nature prescription programs are in the world and how they work. Then, health-care providers can connect with their global counterparts and share expertise.

She said the U.S. and Canada already have established nature prescription programs while Italy recently adopted something similar to Canada’s.

The UN Biodiversity Conference (COP17) being held in Armenia this week is aimed at reviewing progress toward a global plan to protect at-risk biodiversity that was established in Montreal in 2022, known as the Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework.

Part of the plan includes an ambitious target of protecting 30 per cent of land and water by 2030, a target that Canada and B.C. have agreed to meet.

Lem said research shows that when people are more connected to nature, they’re more likely to engage in pro-environmental behaviour like supporting conservation or working to reduce climate-change-causing greenhouse gas emissions.

“Nature prescribing is not only a way to improve people’s mental and physical health, but it’s also a way to shift values in favour of planetary health,” said Lem.

She says nature is the fourth pillar of health, and just as important as a healthy diet, exercise and lifestyle.

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