Natural England, Health and Biodiversity - Dave Stone, Principal Specialist Environment & Human Health
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Natural England, Health and Biodiversity Dave Stone, Principal Specialist Environment & Human Health www.naturalengland.org.uk
Who are Natural England?
Natural England is here to conserve and enhance the natural environment
for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people and the
economic prosperity that it brings.
We will achieve this by:
• promoting nature conservation and protecting biodiversity;
• conserving and enhancing the landscape;
• securing the provision and improvement of facilities for the study,
understanding and enjoyment of the natural environment;
• promoting access to the countryside, open spaces and encouraging open
air recreation; and
• contributing in other ways to social and economic wellbeing through
management of the natural environment.
Natural England’s health and wellbeing policy
The natural environment can help with the major
health problems facing society
Indirect benefits Direct benefits
Reducing health inequalities Moderating impact from extreme
weather
Improving mental health Shelter from UV, noise, wind
Improving physical activity Carbon sequestration
Reducing obesity Improved water and air quality
Enhancing social cohesion Food
Natural England , biodiversity, health?
What is Walking for Health?
• WfH is the largest programme in the UK
promoting physical activity to sedentary
people in urban and rural areas.
• Launched in 2000, the successful WfH
programme is already helping 32,000
people each week to join led health
walks in their local natural environment.
• A new partnership between Natural
England and the Department of Health
will enable 130,000 people to walk
regularly to benefit their health.
Walking for Health’s successes • 537 walking schemes. • 6,500 volunteer walk leaders trained each year. • Over 2,500 walks per week. • 30,000 per week walking. • Individual walker participation averages 3 times per week.
Walking for Health - a partnership
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Drug Rehabilitation with Phoenix Futures
• Natural England have been working
with Phoenix Futures, since 2003.
• Conservation therapy component to the
Phoenix Futures residential drug
rehabilitation programme.
• This takes place as supervised weekly
practical activity on National Nature
Reserves.
• Clients who participate in conservation
therapy component are:
– 45% more likely to complete the full
rehab programme;
– 23% less likely to lapse back in to
drug use 12 months after rehabNatural Extension of GP Practices. Natural England / NHS Alliance
• Scheme run by BTCV with commercial
and government support
• Conservation work specifically to improve
health some through referrals from NHS
• Over 100 schemes benefiting 10,000
people
• Over 60% (72% if referred by NHS) of
participants were new to volunteering
and to environmental volunteering.The NHS Forest
• This is an initiative between Natural
England, Forestry Commission,
Woodland Trust, NHS
Sustainability Unit and the charity
Knowledge into action.
• Aim to plant 1.3 million trees (one
for each NHS employee) in and
around hospitals, health centres
and local communities
• Initial £50k to set up structure.
Ongoing funding from acute trusts
and patientsGreen Infrastructure
A key concept: Multifunctionality Combining different functions on the same piece of land
Something to aspire to: the ANGSt* standards •That no one should live more than 300m from at least 2ha of natural greenspace. •Provision of at least 1ha of Local Nature Reserve per 1,000 population. •At least one accessible 20ha site within 2km from home; •One accessible 100ha site within 5km; •One accessible 500ha site within 10km *Accessible Natural Greenspace
Incidence rate ratios for all-cause mortality in groups of exposure to
green space, relative to group 1 (least exposure to green space)
Currently over 1300 premature deaths in poorer areas saved from
existing green space
Mitchell R Popham F; Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities: an observational population study The
Lancet, Volume 372, Issue 9650, Pages 1655 - 1660, 8 November 2008The Natural
Health Service
Increasing high Connecting
quality Green people to the
Space Green Space
NICE Guidance
Planning Change4life
NHS Forest WHI Blue Gym Green Gym
Coastal To create 10,000 activities connected all conservation
Twinning
Access walks per week with Marine volunteering
MRC / Natural England Research Network
The Whole of the Natural Health service will be underpinned by research being led by the Peninsula Medical School that will
answer the main questions. 1) How can people get connected to their Natural Environment. 2) What are the direct health
benefits of green space? 3) What physiological mechanisms cause the health benefits 4) What changes in health are
generated by a change in environment (Intervention studies)Characteristics of the Natural Health Service • Encouraging good quality public green space where people live, work and play. • Supporting people to make the best use of this public green space. • Promoting more research into the health benefits of green space. • Partnering with health organisations to use green space in disease management where there is good supporting evidence.
Environmental Stewardship
• Environmental Stewardship is an agri-environment scheme that
provides funding to farmers and other land managers in England
who deliver effective environmental management on their land.
• The primary objectives of Environmental Stewardship are to:
• conserve wildlife (biodiversity)
• maintain and enhance landscape quality and character
• protect the historic environment and natural resources
• promote public access and understanding of the countryside
• protect natural resources.Countdown 2010 Biodiversity Action Fund
2008 - 2011
• Working to halt the loss of biological diversity
• This £5.5 million fund was launched on 22 May 2008 to help achieve the UK government’s
commitment to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010, through supporting the recovery of priority
species and habitats in England.
• This commitment to halt biodiversity loss was made by European leaders at the 2001 EU Summit
in Gothenburg and the Countdown 2010 initiative seeks to raise awareness of this target.
• a. how the proposal benefits BAP priority species and/or habitats in England;
• b. how the proposal benefits the best sites for wildlife in England (including local wildlife sites);
• c. the extent to which the specified gains for BAP priority species and habitats achieved by the
project also support enhancements at a landscape-scale (for example through reducing the
effects of fragmentation);
• d. how the project is developing the evidence base for BAP priority species and habitats, for
example through surveying and monitoring, trialling of habitat management techniques;
• e. effective partnership working, for example by engaging with regional or local biodiversity
partnerships, schools and local businesses, in order to deliver particular outcomes for BAP priority
habitats and species;
• f. that the benefits of the project are sustained after the funding period ends, i.e. that there is a
lasting legacy;Countdown 2010: Habitat restoration and
expansion heathland in the Charnwood forest
• Run by the Leicestershire and
Rutland Wildlife Trust this project
works on lowland heathland at
Charnwood Lodge National Nature
Reserve and Ulverscroft nature
reserve. Over a two year period
project staff, supported by over 350
volunteers, carried out 14 hectares
of bracken control, 9 hectares of
scrub clearance and 4.75 hectares
of bramble and gorse control to
encourage the spread of heathland
flora and fauna.
© Leicestershire & Rutland
Wildlife TrustAccess to nature
• Access to Nature is a £25 million grant scheme to encourage people
from all backgrounds to understand, access and enjoy our natural
environment.
• Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Sowe Valley Project The River Sowe
runs through the City of Coventry meandering through a diverse
range of communities, each unique in its make up. This 3 year
project will bring to life the river and its wonders to local people,
many of whom may have failed to even notice its presence within
their community. Engaging local people to undertake practical
conservation activities along the river corridor each aimed at
managing and improving biodiversity, and by training and educating
people with a real and thorough understanding of their natural
environment, its importance and the benefits it brings aims to leave
a legacy well beyond the 3 year duration of the project.Opportunities for Volunteering
• In the 2004 ‘Make a Difference Day’ Survey 47% of respondents
said that volunteering had improved their health and physical fitness,
with 32% identifying weight lose as a benefit. 22% of 18-24 year
olds surveyed said that volunteering helped them to consume less
alcohol. Also 48% of respondents who had volunteered for more
than two years said that volunteering had reduce their feelings of
depression (CSV, 2004).Barton, H. and Grant, M (2006) A health map for the local human habitat. Perspectives in Public Health, Vol. 126, No. 6, 252-253 (2006)
A biodiverse natural environment for human health
Fuller et al (2007) – psychological well-
being (e.g reflection, distinct identity)
vs biodiversity value (e.g.sp richness,
heterogeneity). PEvaluation / Endorsement from NICE Single Item Metric – fully validated has undergone: Cognitive Testing: Test-Retest Reliability: Concurrent Validity
Data Crown Copyright Ordnance Survey. Used under license.
Health Impacts of Climate Change
WHO, 2007Heatwave PLAN FOR ENGLAND
PROTECTING HEALTH AND REDUCING HARM FROM
EXTREME HEAT AND HEATWAVES
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