Certification
Our Quality Promise
What are the arguments in
favor of certification?
Certification creates confidence in the professionalism of your activities and assures the high quality standarts are met. A certificate increases your reputation and intensifies customer orientation. It demonstrates that your forest has been attested to fulfil specified requirments by an imparital party. Standardized processes ensure that your forest is suitable for therapeutic use and provides added value for the user.
Compared to an ordinary forest, the "healing forest" thus has a well-founded, scientifically proven quality statement for patients, forest therapists, health tourists and health-oriented institutions as well as for health insurance companies and other health, social or pension insurance carriers.
What are the requirements ?
The healing forest certificate is awarded when the corresponding forest fulfills a specific healing effect. For the development of a healing forest, the forest should meet the following minimum requirements:
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near-natural forest that provides noise attenuation as well as visual and wind protection
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has path(s) with load levels and different degrees of difficulty
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offers regular services of trained forest therapists and/or members of other therapeutic professions
(the proximity to a hospital as well as to health or rehabilitation centers has proven to be advantageous)
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has designated areas for therapeutic applications as well as for relaxation exercises
More information you can find here.
How does the certification process work?
Forest therapy, accompanied by trained therapists, is suitable to positively influence the treatment of diseases as well as the extent of disability caused by these diseases. We developed a standardized protocol to assess the suitability of forests for therapeutic use based on scientific evidence.
First contact
Are you interested in the certification of a healing forest? Then please feel free to contact us. In a personal meeting, we will gladly present your concept and give you detailed information about the requirements and the implementation. Together we will explore the possibilities for the development of your healing forest.
Therapeutic concept of use
If you decide to develop a healing forest, a therapeutic concept of use must be prepared by the forest owner. Here you present your motivation and give information about the forest area as well as the planned therapeutic offers in the healing forest. A standardized form is provided by the International certification office Healing forest.
Forestry and medical-therapeutic expert opinions
After the positive assessment of your application documents, we commission the preparation of high-quality expert opinions. A foresty report examines the currently existing forest stands, their management, and the existing infrastructure. Based on this, a medical-therapeutic report will be prepared, which assesses the health-promoting effect of the forest and suggests opportunities for therapeutic use.
The reports are prepared by independent experts during an on-site visit. When selecting experts, we work closely with our international network of the International Society of Forest Therapy. Through this procedure, we meet the high-quality requirements of a healing forest.
Awarding of the International Certificate "Healing Forest"
On the basis of the prepared expert opinions, the suitability of the forest for the development of a healing forest is evaluated. A positive assessment results in the awarding of the International Certificate "Healing Forest". The certificate is awarded on behalf of the International Society of Forest Therapy and thus has worldwide recognition.
The certificate proves that your forest complies with high-quality standards. It stands out from other forests and has a unique selling proposition. In addition, you create confidence in the professionalism of your offer.
