The Wellness-Environment Connection

That walk in the woods that leaves you calmer, clearer? Dr. Melissa Lem can prove it. A Vancouver family physician, past president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and founder of PaRx, Canada’s first nature prescription program, she has spent over 15 years translating rigorous science into action. The evidence is striking: regular time in nature measurably reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and improves mental health. But her work points somewhere larger. Access to nature is a health issue (research supports this). It’s also an equity issue, a workplace issue, and a sustainability issue. Personal health and planetary health are the same conversation. A conversation from The Gathering 2026