When you think of the best ways to improve your mental health, your first thoughts may revolve around; spending time with others, engaging in your hobbies, sleeping, eating, and drinking well, or countless other activities.
All these answers are valuable, and all certainly have clear benefits to them, but one easy improvement you can make is connecting more with nature: an opportunity many people miss in their day-to-day life.
For years, studies have shown that individuals who make efforts to cultivate strong connections with nature typically tend to lead a happier life. A correlation has also been made to lower levels of stress and anxiety, with 44% of people surveyed by the Mental Health Foundation reporting that exposure to nature helps them feel less anxious or worried. This connection has been long suspected by scientists, as shown in the Biophilia Hypothesis by Edward Wilson (1984), which theorises we have an innate need to be in contact with and care for the natural world. Nature has even been proven to aid in child development, improving cognition and over-all wellbeing, as well as help to manage symptoms of ADHD and autism. It could also be an important tool in supporting communities themselves, allowing people to connect with those around them in a positive environment. The link between nature and your mental wellness is startlingly clear, and not even the only benefit provided by an association with the natural environment.
Alongside mental health, an involvement with nature also has a positive effect on physical health, by improving activeness and, therefore, promoting fitness. In 2023, 92 randomised controlled trials proved that nature could help make measurable health improvements, such as lowered blood pressure, making an involvement with it especially valuable for those with pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes. If managed correctly, it could even be possible to use nature to reduce health inequalities present in low-income communities.
However, it is these communities that are most deprived of the nature that could benefit them, with data from Natural England and the Office for National Statistics concluding that those of low income or ethnically diverse communities are also those most likely to live in areas lacking high-quality parks or wild places. While only 5% of adults surveyed in 2021 said they did not believe access to nature had ever improved their mental health, 40% from ethnic minority backgrounds live in the most nature-deprived areas. More than a quarter of those with long-term illnesses or disabilities surveyed reported that they had not visited a natural space in at least a month. Particularly for those financially challenged, trips to these places further afield may be impossible, preventing them from connecting with the natural world, and taking any meaningful enrichments to their lives from it.
This issue is so serious that the 25-year environment plan the government set out in 2018 includes several policies relating to ‘connecting people with the environment to improve health and wellbeing’. They have also taken more definite legislative action, with the Environment Act 2021 which imposes a legal requirement for new major development projects to increase local biodiversity by 10% or more. This aims to prevent the continued decline of the environment as a result of urban sprawling. There are also plans for continued support in the future, as the government plans to dedicate £39 million to refurbishing public parks and local spaces, including the creation of 100 urban ‘pocket parks’ in communities with the least access to green spaces. This issue even extends beyond national borders, with the United Nations discussing proposals for a legal right to nature.
On the other hand, despite these measures, our green spaces and parks are still endangered, as they are primarily owned and managed by local councils, who have been subjected to drastic finance cuts from central government in the last decade. For example, Newcastle City Council was forced to reduce its budget for local parks by 91% in the period between 2010 and 2017. The Covid-19 pandemic only widened the gap, contrary to the fact it promoted the value of nature to many people.
Given that visits to urban parks account for more than a third of all nature visits, it is clear these spaces are highly valued, making it even more concerning that more than 2 million UK citizens live further than a 10-minute walk from any green space. It is almost certainly an instinctual need for us to be in tune with our environment, and it presents clear benefits to improve our every-day lives, so it is vital that those of us with the privilege to access green spaces take advantage of that and connect ourselves with nature.
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https://www.rethinkingpoverty.org.uk/land/green-space-access-is-not-equal-in-the-uk/