By Stephen Le Quesne
Equitable access to nature is a subject that I constantly write about and discuss – it is one of my passions. I feel it is critically important to provide suitable outdoor spaces that are wild and diverse, no matter where you live. Just because you live within a town or urban environment should not mean that you are prevented from spending time in nature.
Unfortunately, we know that nature access is not equal, and in Jersey our urban spaces are devoid of any real detail or insight as to how to bring the countryside to them. The reasons are many, from the lack of recognition of the importance of nature on a political level, to the lack of systems in place to make it happen.
Access to nature is important as studies have shown time and again that it makes people healthier, happier and contributes to a higher life satisfaction, especially in relation to how they view where they live. This field of science, linking nature to our health, is a fascinating, positive and worthwhile pursuit, which is providing us with tangible data and results that we can implement in our daily lives.
A couple of weeks ago a report was published by the UK government and the Wildlife Trusts regarding seven green social prescribing projects that involved tackling and preventing mental ill health. The study was a two-year, £5.77m initiative, with a focus on “how systems can be developed to enable the use of nature-based settings to promote wellbeing and improve mental health”. For the study and evaluation, green social prescribing (GSP) was defined as the practice of supporting people to engage in nature-based interventions and activities to improve their mental health.
Seven GSP projects were created, and each was linked with a local wildlife trust. During the research period over 8,000 people took part, with 57% coming from the most economically under-served places and 21% of people coming from ethnic minority communities. This is of critical importance because we know that the poorest and most vulnerable communities, families and individuals are affected the most when it comes to a lack of access to nature.
The findings of the study are incredibly interesting. If you would like to read the report it is called Preventing and Tackling Mental Ill Health through Green Social Prescribing. (It can be found via the following link: https://randd.defra.gov.uk).
I am going to lift the standout findings from the Wildlife Trust website, as it will make more sense coming from the authors of the study. They found that:
l“There were big reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms, and significant improvements across wellbeing measures, with big increases in happiness and life satisfaction, alongside an increase in people’s feeling that “life is worthwhile”.
l“In terms of the pounds and pence, there was a return on investment of £2.42 per £1 invested by HM Treasury. Social prescribing generates economic return. It also compares well with other NHS interventions if looking through a cost-effective lens.”
These significant results have convinced HM Treasury to invest a further £2.3 million in the pilot programme, taking it to March 2025 and as the authors of the published report stated: “It’s clear from our results that green prescribing has the potential to deliver cost-saving benefits to the NHS and take weight out of the system.”
There have been nothing but positive results from this project. It is a long-term investment that will save the NHS money in the UK, especially if it were to be delivered at scale.
The future potential is underlined by Sir Micheal Marmot, a professor of epidemiology and public health at UCL.
He states: “If Wildlife Trusts programmes like those described in this research were made available to more people in more places, they could help prevent unnecessary ill-health and reduce the number of people requiring NHS services.
“This ‘Natural Health Service’ alongside the creation of natural spaces in communities across the country will help bring about healthy and sustainable places to live and work.”
Believe it or not, I do not really like to criticise our government or point the finger at them. The problem is that they can make it easy to do, with their lack of effective communication and the drip-feed of stories of projects and services being cut (especially during the past few months).
For green social prescribing projects to work effectively they need to be piloted and tested (which we are yet to do), but they also need to be funded through successive governments, with the aid of long-term thinking and co-operation.
I am not sure whether this is possible, but I would love to be proved wrong.
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Stephen Le Quesne is a naturalist, conservationist, forest school leader and nature connection advocate.
