ENJOY AND SUPPORT NATURE
Nature is of vital importance for two reasons.
NATURE COUNTERS GLOBAL WARMING
The first is that nature provides the only effective measure against global warming. It may be that we will use less carbon in future but with the increase in the total number of people on the planet even a 10% reduction in carbon use by individuals will be offset by the increased number of people driving cars, using electricity and using the internet, an unrecognised consumer of energy and producer of carbon. The Amazon fires of the summer 2019 brought this issue to public attention as never before but we must do what we can to preserve and increase the greenery of our planet.
This is of vital importance for those who will be occupying the planet in twenty, thirty or forty years namely the children, grand-children and great-grandchildren of people in their sixties, seventies and eighties so it is very important for people in their sixties and beyond to campaign and raise funds for nature. The science is clearly described in the Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health
One project designed to tackle this is the NHS Forest which aims to plan 1.4 million trees, one for everyone who is working in the NHS. They need money and voluntary help and you can find out more about the NHS Forest on their website, www.nhsforest.org/
NATURE HAS THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS - IT HELPS PEOPLE FEEL BETTER
The second reason why nature is important because it has a direct beneficial effect on health. In cities green roofs and green spaces consume pollution and even the humble moss which we have all scraped away from garden paths has been shown to be a major consumer of pollutants in cities, with green panels of moss now starting to feature in all cities.
The Japanese call it Shinrin-Yoku or Forest bathing and it is beautifully described in the book of that name by Dr Qing Li
However it is the mental health effects of greenery that are also receiving increasing attention and people who get treatment in a place surrounded by greenery or even where they can see trees report a better result than people in some impersonal building with no greenery within sight.
For people who are housebound the wonders of the internet and virtual reality offers an experience which is not as good as standing and smelling a forest glade but to watch nature change and to develop an attachment to a particular piece of nature for example a bird’s nest or a rabbit burrow or a hedge row is good for health.
Nature is of vital importance for two reasons.
NATURE COUNTERS GLOBAL WARMING
The first is that nature provides the only effective measure against global warming. It may be that we will use less carbon in future but with the increase in the total number of people on the planet even a 10% reduction in carbon use by individuals will be offset by the increased number of people driving cars, using electricity and using the internet, an unrecognised consumer of energy and producer of carbon. The Amazon fires of the summer 2019 brought this issue to public attention as never before but we must do what we can to preserve and increase the greenery of our planet.
This is of vital importance for those who will be occupying the planet in twenty, thirty or forty years namely the children, grand-children and great-grandchildren of people in their sixties, seventies and eighties so it is very important for people in their sixties and beyond to campaign and raise funds for nature. The science is clearly described in the Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health
One project designed to tackle this is the NHS Forest which aims to plan 1.4 million trees, one for everyone who is working in the NHS. They need money and voluntary help and you can find out more about the NHS Forest on their website, www.nhsforest.org/
NATURE HAS THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS - IT HELPS PEOPLE FEEL BETTER
The second reason why nature is important because it has a direct beneficial effect on health. In cities green roofs and green spaces consume pollution and even the humble moss which we have all scraped away from garden paths has been shown to be a major consumer of pollutants in cities, with green panels of moss now starting to feature in all cities.
The Japanese call it Shinrin-Yoku or Forest bathing and it is beautifully described in the book of that name by Dr Qing Li
However it is the mental health effects of greenery that are also receiving increasing attention and people who get treatment in a place surrounded by greenery or even where they can see trees report a better result than people in some impersonal building with no greenery within sight.
For people who are housebound the wonders of the internet and virtual reality offers an experience which is not as good as standing and smelling a forest glade but to watch nature change and to develop an attachment to a particular piece of nature for example a bird’s nest or a rabbit burrow or a hedge row is good for health.