The Map That Lets You Listen to the Sounds of Forests Around the World

Forests and their lush nature not only serve as the lungs of our planet, but they are also essential and highly recommended for lowering blood pressure, strengthening the immune system, and eliminating stress. We're not saying this; science has been proclaiming for years that forests are always a 'plus' for our health.

In Japan, in fact, this is where what we now call 'forest bathing' began to gain popularity, stemming from the Japanese term 'shinrin-yoku'. Every year, more than 4 million Japanese people visit these 'forest therapies' at some of the official centers of the Japan Forestry Agency.

These sessions consist of two hours of leisurely walking with guided breathing exercises led by instructors. What's the outcome? The Japanese government has prescribed these walks as a preventive measure against the development of certain diseases.

If you are a nature lover, you already know. A full day in the countryside is synonymous with good humor, deep breathing, and detoxifying from the pollution of big cities.

What if we told you that now you can experience forest bathing from home? That's precisely what 'Sounds of the Forest' aims to offer, a library of open-source recordings where anyone can listen to the sounds of forests from around the world.

An excellent initiative that promises to take us into a state of extreme relaxation created at the Timber Festival, a three-day event in the UK that celebrates humanity's connection to trees through art, music, and creativity.

The outcome, you can imagine: a resounding success with one of the most needed maps in times when stress and anxiety are everyday issues. A map featuring forests from around the globe that keeps growing with ambient sounds, where you can hear everything from the songs of birds in Asian forests, the rustling of American trees, to the peaceful sounds of certain forests where water flows.

In fact, this initiative was supposed to end once the map of forests around the world was published. But, as its creators recount, the initiative exceeded all expectations, forcing them to continue enriching it and keeping it alive.

In fact, you can also participate in this map. Do you live near a mountain or forest? Do you have a place where the sounds can transport you to another dimension? And most importantly... would you like to share that sound with the rest of the world? You can include your sound in this map, so it becomes part of a global enjoyment.

And if not... you can always delight in the calls of lemurs in Madagascar or the songs of nightingales in Slovakia. A brilliant and timely initiative that allows us to know firsthand that the different ecosystems of the world possess their own unique soundscape.