CSU Chico's Forest Therapy for Community Recovery Project

The Ecotherapy Program offers place-based, holistic healing practices to Chico State students, staff, and faculty, community members, and individuals impacted by wildfire in Butte County. The program’s mission is to promote the well-being of both people and the land through guided therapeutic and restorative activities in local natural environments. It is through this program that you can register for a Forest Therapy Walk. 

Nature is a way to engage in healing and is inherently trauma informed care. In the Spring of 2020, 15 local professionals in the Butte County area became ANFT certified Forest Therapy guides with the purpose of bringing recovery from trauma through immersion in nature. Training occurred at Chico State's Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve.

Funding for this project came from North Valley Community Foundation's Butte Strong Fund.

There are several community partners involved including Paradise Recreation & Park District, Butte County Office of Education, Enloe Medical Center, Camp Fire Collaborative, and Respectful Revolution. There is ongoing university and community partnership and networking with the local native Mechoopda Maidu community, and the Chico Traditional Ecological Stewardship Program, an indigenous-led land management program for community resilience & shared prosperity.