The Influence of the Forest on the Population Health

It is widely accepted that forests offer many important benefits, such as providing natural habitats for animal species or helping to diminish the greenhouse effect by storing carbon emissions. Forests are associated with helping to reduce flooding and represent the main source of wooden material. From a more subjective perspective, forests serve as places with both spiritual and recreate value. As a major global carbon deposit, forests have a critical role in influencing the Earth's ecosystem and climate. Given the fact that people are also part of the ecosystem we may only ask ourselves: “Is there any influence of the forests on the population's health? This paper aims to analyse the links between the forest area and the volume of harvested wood and the population's health degree. In order to determine these links we will use a panel-type econometric model for the development regions of Romania. The econometric analysis aims to confirm a cause-effect relationship between the forests and the population's health degree.