Clemens Arvay

In 2019, the International Handbook of Forest Therapy was published by Cambridge University Press; it consists two chapters that are written by Arvay.

In "Der Biophilia-Effekt" (The Biophilia Effect, 2015) and "Das Biophilia-Training" (The Biophilia Training, 2016), the author analyzed the healing effect of the forest. In the two books, Arvay touted the forest as the "best fitness gym in the world"; the books both became bestsellers. The English edition of "The Biophilia Effect" was published in 2018. It contains a foreword by biologist Marc Bekoff. In 2016, Arvay revisited this topic in a book entitled "Der Heilungscode der Natur" (English edition: The Healing Code of Nature, 2018). Specifically, the work discusses the positive effects of plants and animals on the human immune system. Among other accolades was a review from the people magazine Bunte, praising the book as a "great introduction into the medical aspects of how human beings and nature interact." Another work is "Biophilia in der Stadt” (Biophilia in the City, 2018), which deals with the effects of nature on life in urban environments. Brain scientist Gerald Hüther wrote the foreword to the book. Arvay's latest book is "Mit den Bäumen wachsen wir in den Himmel: Autistische Kinder mit der Heilkraft des Waldes fördern" (Forest therapy and the autism spectrum – advancing the development of children through the outdoors, 2019).

In 2014, Arvay teamed up with the actor Roland Düringer on a book titled "Leb wohl Schlaraffenland" (Fare Well, Land of Plenty) in which both authors discussed the "major philosophical questions in life." As an experiment, Düringer decided to do without modern advances and to live according to the way things were 40 years ago. In the course of additional activities as an author, Arvay once again took on the ramifications of industrial farming, in his book published in 2014, having to do above all with the artificial standardization of food by policymakers and industry, along with the practices of large seed producers.

In 2011, Arvay published his first non-fiction book on forgotten species of vegetables. The author reached a wide readership with his second book "Der große Bio-Schmäh" (The Big Organic Fraud): Released in 2012, the author offered a look "behind the scenes of the supposedly picture-perfect world of organic foods," which was touted as being "a dispassionate and therefore also credible account." Within a few weeks, the book ascended to the Austrian bookseller association's bestseller list for non-fiction books. In 2013, in an additional book, Arvay advocated reining in "power-hungry food conglomerates" in favor of regional, small-scale farming. This book also was published in Japanese.

Clemens G. Arvay (born July 22, 1980) is an Austrian biologist and author of popular science books emphasizing on health ecology. His works have been published in several languages.

Arvay was born in 1980 in Graz, Styria. After completing secondary school, Arvay initially studied landscape ecology at the University of Graz until 2005. In 2007, he also completed his master's degree of studies in applied plant sciences at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna. Arvay subsequently held various positions, including quality manager for the organic brand "Zurück zum Ursprung" (Back to Origin) of the Hofer supermarket chain. This significantly boosted sales of organic foods in Austria. Later, Arvay temporarily obtained a position working for the Austrian environmental protection organization, Global 2000. Since 2012 he has worked exclusively as a freelance author. Arvay is the father of an autistic child.