Good morning.

Justine Hunter wrote this weekend about the trend of doctors prescribing time outside to alleviate health issues. Some 1.3 million Canadians have received such a prescription, based on the PaRx program launched by the BC Parks Foundation in November, 2020. It’s expanded to other provinces.

Health care professionals created the program recommending at least two hours of week for time in nature for no less than 20 minutes at a time.

As Justine writes, hundreds of medical studies have found health benefits associated with being immersed in green spaces. Experiencing nature can reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and the risk of preterm birth. Asthma, ADHD and coronary heart disease can be reduced. Cancer-related outcomes can be improved.

Some 18,000 Canadian medical practitioners are now writing nature prescriptions, aiming to counter a growing health issue: A majority of Canadians live in urban areas where access to the natural environment can be limited, and where sedentary lifestyles can lead to chronic disease.

But what counts as nature? Does a pocket park down the street count? Is that the same as hiking deep into the rainforest?

It’s unclear. It’s also unclear whether the prescriptions actually work.

A review of the medical literature on the benefits of nature, published in the Environmental Research journal in 2018, found that based on 140 studies, that “green prescriptions involving greenspace use may have substantial benefits.”

But the way in which nature helps people is not understood, the paper acknowledges.

“Although this systematic review has uncovered a large body of research on the relationship between greenspace and health, there is a paucity of literature on the mechanisms underlying this relationship.”

But that empirical evidence is the concern of scientists and policy makers and for many in Douglas Park, a leafy residential neighbourhood in Vancouver not too far from downtown, it doesn’t really matter.

In a hollow cavity of a huge willow tree at the edge of the park, a pair of Barred owls decided to raise a pair of chicks. The neighbourhood turned out to watch.

Anakana Schofield’s essay on the majesty of the birds and the community that has sprung up to watch from a distance nicely sums up what it means to slow down enough to take in the wonder.

Sure, the bird paparazzi turned up, prompting the City of Vancouver to install a fence around the tree and put up signs urging people to be quiet, as well as explaining basic facts about Barred owls.

But the long-lensed crew, some of whom spent hours waiting for any kind of sign of an owlet, became part of the community, reporting on the hatchlings’ progress.

“The owlets brought a new level of energy to our group. The excitement and wonder were tangible. Like a BBQ that never ran out of hotdogs, stories were gathered and shared,” she writes.

“It became a common sight to stumble across groups of people looking up at the trees. Drivers and cyclists would stop and ask us what is it we were staring at? The reply, Owls, became almost like uttering the name of a sports team."

Not too far away from Douglas Park, along Vancouver’s beaches, city residents are keeping their eyes trained on the water, hoping for an encore performance from an orca or perhaps another species of whale.

Last month, Chatchawan Jaksuwong raced across the Lions Gate Bridge to get photos of a pod of orcas hunting a seal in the Burrard Inlet. His photos showed blood in the water roiling around the orcas as they hunted. He even captured a photo of a young orca leaping out of the water.

The drama also unfolded in front of a crowd at Locarno Beach watching a triathlon.

“I feel so lucky, to be honest, to see that here, in nature,” said Jaksuwong, who moved to the city from Thailand two years ago.

For generations, parents have been telling their kids – especially in the summer – “Go play outside.”

It seems it’s advice everyone should take into adulthood.

This is the weekly British Columbia newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.