People in community garden © Paul Harris 2020VISION
Fix nature. Fix health.
Healthy life expectancy in the UK keeps falling. In some areas people can expect to have a healthy life only until they receive their pension. And sometimes even earlier. It's a fact made even more shocking when you remember the solution is right in front of us.
A healthy environment = healthy people
Evidence shows that time spent in nature improves your physical health and your mental well-being. It inspires and motivates people; it can even help to prevent a whole range of illnesses, from chronic stress to depression, heart disease, to obesity. Having nature close by builds healthy immune systems, and allows us to recover more quickly from illness too. Health programmes which focus on nature even save the NHS money.
Tell us: how does nature help you?
We want to hear directly from you about how nature has helped your health and wellbeing. How does nature make your life better?
Your story will help us to speak to the people making policy decisions, like Ministers and MPs. It will help us to make sure policies that impact people’s health and access to nature have been informed by real people.
Nature isn't yet embedded in the health system
Successive governments have been saying they want to update public health policy, starting in England, for years - but they keep pushing those plans down the priority list.
There are no government policies that really embed nature and the environment within the NHS. There have been small projects and short term funding for ‘green’ social prescribing programmes, which support some people to benefit from spending time outside. But it’s not enough.
Nature is still considered to be something that’s ‘nice to have’, instead of something that is necessary for everyone.
Your story can help make the difference.
Nature is necessary: the evidence
There is now incontrovertible evidence that nature is good for our health and well-being in many ways, and it is growing all the time. So making nature more central to everyone’s lives would be hugely beneficial to people of all ages and backgrounds.
Below we outline just some of this evidence.
General health
Bagnall, A.-M., Freeman, C., Southby, K. & E. Brymer (2019) Social Return on Investment analysis of the health and wellbeing impacts of Wildlife Trust programmes. The Wildlife Trusts/Leeds Beckett University.
Bragg, R., Wood, C., Barton, J. & J. Pretty (2015) Wellbeing benefits from natural environments rich in wildlife. The Wildlife Trusts/University of Essex.
Cameron, R.W.F., Brindley, P., Mears, M., McEwan, K., Ferguson, F., Sheffield, D., Jorgensen, A., Riley, J., Goodrick, J., Ballard, L. & M. Richardson (2020) Where the wild things are! Do urban green spaces with greater avian biodiversity promote more positive emotions in humans? Urban Ecosystems 23:301–317
The Evaluator (2019) My Place: An independent review carried out by The Evaluator, for the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside and Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust.
Hammoud, R., Tognin, S., Smythe, M., Gibbons, J., Davidson, N., Bakolis, I. & A. Mechelli (2024) Smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment reveals an incremental association between natural diversity and mental wellbeing. Scientific Reports 14, 7051
Terry Hartig, Richard Mitchell, Sjerp de Vries, Howard Frumkin (2014). Nature and Health. Annual Review Public Health. 35:207-228.
Harvey, C., Holland, F. & R. Furlong (2022) Wild Wellbeing Hub: An evaluation report for Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. Nature Connectedness Research Group, University of Derby.
Lahart I, Darcy P, Gidlow C, Calogiuri G. (2019): The Effects of Green Exercise on Physical and Mental Wellbeing: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; 16(8):1352.
Lamont, R. A., & Hinson, C. (2024). A narrative review of reviews of nature exposure and human health and well-being in the UK. Natural England Evidence Review 030. Natural England.
Nguyen, Phi-Yen et al. (2023): Effect of nature prescriptions on cardiometabolic and mental health, and physical activity: a systematic review. The Lancet Planetary Health, 7(4), e313 - e328.
Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology (2016): Green Space and Health. PostNote 538.
Richardson, M., Cormack, A., McRobert, L. and R. Underhill (2016) 30 Days Wild: Development and evaluation of a large-scale nature engagement campaign to improve well-being. PLOS ONE 11(2): e0149777.
Richardson, M. and K. McEwan (2018) 30 Days Wild and the relationships between engagement with nature’s beauty, nature connectedness and well-being. Frontiers in Psychology 9:1500. doi: 10.3389/ fpsyg.2018.01500
Richardson, M., McEwan, K. and G. Garip (2018) 30 Days Wild: who benefits most? Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 95-104.
Rogerson, M., Barton, J., Bragg, R. & J. Pretty (2017) The health and wellbeing impacts of volunteering with the Wildlife Trusts. The Wildlife Trusts/University of Essex.
Sellars, P., Crone, D., Mercer, J. & D. Clayton (2024). Wild Skills, Wild Spaces project - evaluation report. Cardiff Metropolitan University for Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust.
Sheldrake, R., Amos, R. & M.J. Reiss (2019) Children and Nature: A research evaluation for The Wildlife Trusts. University College London Institute of Education and The Wildlife Trusts. The Wildlife Trusts, Newark.
Shellock, R., Milner, A. & A. Collins (2019): The well-being and human health benefits of exposure to the marine and coastal environment. Defra Evidence Statement 07. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (2019) The Environment and Me (TEaM) Project Year 2 report. Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, Coventry. [available on request from evidence@wildlifetrusts.org]
White, M.P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J., Wheeler, B.W., Hartig, T., Warber, S.L., Bone, S., Depledge, M.H. & L.E. Fleming (2019) Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific Reports 9, 7730.
The Wildlife Trusts (2020) 30 Days Wild: a Five Year Review. The Wildlife Trusts/ The University of Derby.
Physical health
Christiana RW, Besenyi GM, Gustat J, Horton TH, Penbrooke TL, Schultz CL. (2021): A Scoping Review of the Health Benefits of Nature-Based Physical Activity. Journal of Healthy Eating & Active Living. 1(3):154-172.
Shaan Al Ghanim, Branislav Kaleta, Stephen Campbell, Jimmy O’Keeffe, Jolanta Burke (2025): Nature’s heart: a scoping review of the impact of nature-based interventions for cardiovascular and metabolic disease. Journal of Public Health, 47(3:3), 499–510.
García-Llorente AM, Lopes Machado DR, Casimiro-Andújar AJ, Marcos-Pardo PJ. (2025): Impact of a Multidomain Outdoor Exercise Intervention on Cardiovascular Health and Functional Capacity for Healthy Aging: A Randomized Controlled Trial (ACTIVA-Senior Study). Healthcare; 13(16):1975.
Chinonso Christian Odebeatu, Darsy Darssan, Charlotte Roscoe, Muktar Ahmed, Simon Reid & Nicholas J. Osborne (2024): Greenspace and risk of obesity-related cancer in the UK Biobank cohort: An analysis of private residential gardens and other greenspace types. Science of The Total Environment 943, 173833.
Andersen L, Corazon SS, Stigsdotter UK (2021): Nature Exposure and Its Effects on Immune System Functioning: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; 18(4):1416.
Guidolin K, Jung F, Hunter S, et al. (2024): The Influence of Exposure to Nature on Inpatient Hospital Stays: A Scoping Review. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal 17(2):360-375.
Loader, Vicki (2026): “I forgot what it’s like to be outside”: Intensive care ward opens on rooftop. BBC News, 29th May 2026.
Mascherek A, Weber S, Riebandt K, et al. (2022): On the relation between a green and bright window view and length of hospital stay in affective disorders. European Psychiatry 65(1):e21.
Mental health
Jessen NH, Løvschall C, Skejø SD, et al (2025): Effect of nature-based health interventions for individuals diagnosed with anxiety, depression and/or experiencing stress—a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open; 15:e098598.
Lee, K.O., Mai, K.M. & Park, S. (2023): Green space accessibility helps buffer declined mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from big data in the United Kingdom. Nature Mental Health 1, 124–134.
Liu, BP., Huxley, R.R., Schikowski, T. et al. (2024): Exposure to residential green and blue space and the natural environment is associated with a lower incidence of psychiatric disorders in middle-aged and older adults: findings from the UK Biobank. BMC Med 22, 15.
Berto R. (2014): The Role of Nature in Coping with Psycho-Physiological Stress: A Literature Review on Restorativeness. Behavioral Sciences4(4):394-409.
Rebecca S Geary, Daniel Thompson, Amy Mizen, Ashley Akbari, Joanne K Garrett, Francis M Rowney, Alan Watkins, Ronan A Lyons, Gareth Stratton, Rebecca Lovell, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Sarah C Parker, Jiao Song, Dialechti Tsimpida, James White, Mathew P White, Susan Williams, Benedict W Wheeler, Richard Fry, Sarah E Rodgers (2023): Ambient greenness, access to local green spaces, and subsequent mental health: a 10-year longitudinal dynamic panel study of 2·3 million adults in Wales. The Lancet Planetary Health, 7 (10), e809-e818. ISSN 2542-5196.
Menardo E, Di Marco D, Ramos S, Brondino M, Arenas A, Costa P, Vaz de Carvalho C, Pasini M. (2022): Nature and Mindfulness to Cope with Work-Related Stress: A Narrative Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 19(10):5948.