Nature Sounds Beneficial For Mental Health: Research

The sounds of nature have been found to be beneficial to people's mental health in studies.

The BBC series Forest 404 - a podcast that depicts a future without nature - gathered data from over 7,500 people.

The study discovered that birdsong gave stress and mental fatigue relief to participants.

Alex Smalley, a renowned researcher at the University of Exeter, said lockdown allowed people to rediscover "the natural sounds around them."

"Our findings suggest that protecting these experiences could be beneficial for both mental health and conservation behaviour, but they also provide a stark warning that, when it comes to nature, memories matter," he added.

"If we hope to harness nature's health benefits in the future, we need to ensure everyone has opportunities to foster positive experiences with the natural world today," he said.

Participants were exposed to a variety of habitats, ranging from English beaches and woodlands to Papua, New Guinea's tropical rainforests.

Landscape sounds such as breaking waves or falling rain have been found to have therapeutic effects.

The favourable psychological advantages decreased when no animal sounds were presented, and individuals showed less motivation to conserve the world's ecosystems.

The BBC Natural History Unit, BBC Radio 4, Exeter University, Bristol University, and the Open University collaborated in the research.