In the Great Bear Rainforest, a disgraced founder's daughter tracks a spreading blight for Tree Therapy Inc.—while every episode opens with the real, sometimes contradictory peer-reviewed data on what nature does to the human body.
Follow the Story →Forest Spaces is not a wellness show. It is an 8-episode serialized micro-drama that puts you inside the tension peer-reviewed forest research actually creates—when your heart rate drops in a forest a corporation is trying to monetize.
Each episode opens with Dr. Tara Tiger Brown at the door—naming what the data showed, what failed to replicate, and what remains unresolved—before stepping aside into the story.
Fjords, ancient old-growth, and no roads—where field science and the older world of the forest overlap.
A botanist carrying the weight of her father's crime, a rescued lab pig with a trained nose, and an undercover ranger with his own secrets.
Every episode anchors to a real ecological microseason and peer-reviewed data—including the findings that complicate the story.
Across 106 adult volunteers in a 2×4 crossover study in Metro Vancouver, heart rate dropped significantly during 60-minute forest sessions—whether guided or self-guided. The body responds before the mind agrees.
Higher plant diversity (Shannon Diversity Index) was significantly associated with lower Total Mood Disturbance and reduced depression scores—even when heart rate and blood pressure didn't budge.
Participants described urban traffic and aircraft noise as disruptive—yet higher ambient sound correlated with lower diastolic blood pressure in the data. On Silent Trails, 92% found quiet and 78% heard birdsong and wind again.
Forest bathing didn't reliably lower blood pressure—guided sessions actually saw increases—and vigour scores dropped. When the numbers match between guided and solo walks, the lived experiences still diverge.
"I spent years measuring what happens to human physiology and mood in forests. I didn't want to sand down the contradictions into a wellness brochure—I wanted to build a story big enough to hold what the data actually says."
PhD in Forestry and Environmental Stewardship from the University of British Columbia, researcher behind the Silent Trails project, and creator of Forest Spaces.
Each episode begins with Tara directly on camera unpacking the study design, effect sizes, and unanswered questions—then opens the door into an independent micro-drama crafted with a hybrid of human writing, field research, voice, and AI-assisted visual production.
More about Tara →Norelle arrives in the Great Bear Rainforest on a Tree Therapy Inc. blight survey, carrying field gear and her father's name. She spots a pattern in the data her supervisors dismiss.
Norelle crosses paths with Kaz—a Forest Ranger who knows more than he should—and reconnects awkwardly with her teenage best friend Lacey at Ki Kohi coffee shop.
As the ocean surface turns milky white, Norelle uncovers evidence that the spreading blight isn't natural. When she brings the data to her supervisor, the file disappears.
Humpbacks in the sound, a rare spirit bear sighting, mountain goats descending to the coast, and the autumn salmon run—leading Norelle to the truth about Aunt Deirdre, her father's axe, and what lives beneath the trees.
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