Natural England

Natural England will today (8th November) launch its health campaign, the first of its four national campaigns to reconnect people with the natural environment.

Helen Phillips, Natural England’s Chief Executive, will set out details of the campaign on a visit to Gillespie Park Local Nature Reserve in Islington at 10.00 am on Wednesday 8 November. Helen Phillips will be taking part in an open air Tai Chi session and joining local conservation volunteers in action.

Helen Phillips said: "Prevention is better than cure but up to 97% of NHS spend goes on treating people after they have become ill. We are working with the NHS to plan ways in which the environment is used as a ‘natural’ health service that gets, and keeps, more people healthy."

Dr Fiona Adshead, the Government’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said: "I welcome Natural England's commitment to encourage and enable people to make use of the country's outdoor space for physical activity."

Dr William Bird, Natural England’s health adviser, added: "Increasing evidence suggests that both physical and mental health are improved through contact with nature. Yet people are having less contact with nature than at any other time in the past. This has to change!"

Natural England is working closely with the BBC and over 300 other partners to help deliver Breathing Places, a campaign to mobilise more than a million people, who are not currently active in the environment sector, to get involved at thousands of wildlife friendly green spaces across the country.

Liz Cleaver, Controller of Learning at the BBC stressed the importance of Natural England’s health Campaign, adding: "These two campaigns now provide the public with the opportunity for people to get outside and to get actively involved with nature close to where they live. That’s great for wildlife – but it’s also fantastic for everyone’s health and well being."

Natural England’s health campaign will encourage:

1. More people to get more health benefit from regular contact with the natural environment wherever they live.
2. Health professionals to make more use of the natural environment as part of the total health care they give to their patients.
3. Professionals who manage public open spaces to improve the amount and quality of green space near where people live.

Natural England will do this by building a coalition of environmental, educational, scientific, health and community organisations to bring the environment to the forefront of the health agenda.

ENDS

For further information please contact Natural England’s press office on 01242 533306, 01733455190 or 07970 098005.

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk
http://www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces

Notes for Editors

Headline facts

• Obesity and physical inactivity are the greatest public health challenges for this government costing England £2.5 billion and £8.2 billion respectively. Increasing access to the natural environment can play a pivotal role in efforts to increase activity and reduce obesity.
• One in four people each year will visit a GP because of a mental health problem. Being more active and having more contact with the outdoors reduces stress and can prevent and reduce depression and anxiety. The NHS spent £6.5 billion on mental illness in 2002/03. Local Authorities spent £1.4 billion and informal carers contribute an equivalent of £3.9 billion.
• Seven in ten people do not take enough exercise to benefit their health as recommended by the Chief medical Officer. Engagement in physical activity reduces the risk of up to 20 chronic diseases and disorders including obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers.
• Obesity levels for children aged 6 have doubled in the last 10 years, and have tripled in 15 year olds. 22% of adults are obese and about 40% are overweight. Being overweight or obese accounts for as much as 30% of heart disease and 80% of diabetes and costs the UK £2.5 billion a year.
• These facts are drawn from an evidence base being developed by the RSPB through reports by Dr. William Bird: Natural Fit (2004) and Natural Thinking (forthcoming 2006). See http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/health/index.asp.

Further support for Natural England’s health campaign

• Mark Avery, Director of Conservation, RSPB: "Wildlife is good for us, it's a natural tonic that lifts our sprits, clears our minds and helps us get some exercise too! So making space for nature doesn't just help birds, plants and animals it's good for us too."
• Nicki Cooper Head of Education and Medical Information at the British Heart Foundation said: "Becoming more active and staying more active is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Because the outdoors offers so many ways of getting active, there are huge benefits to the economy, the NHS and us all as individuals if Natural England succeeds in getting more people out enjoying the natural environment."
• Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of MIND, the mental health charity said: "The outdoors has great potential to help society tackle the growing problems of mental health. We need to reverse the situation where communities with the poorest mental health benefit also have the least attractive natural spaces. Having good quality natural spaces to enjoy should be a right of everyone."
• Tom Flood, British Trust of Conservation Volunteers’ Chief Executive, whose ‘Green Gym’ initiative is free to those taking part and enables people to get fitter and healthier through conservation volunteering, gardening and food growing, said: "The great thing about the BTCV Green Gym is that people are exercising without even realising it, and their environment also benefits. Participants, from school children to pensioners, gain a sense of mental well-being, increased self-confidence and new friends."

Natural England

1. Natural England was established by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Its purpose is to ensure that the natural environment is conserved, enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations, thereby contributing to sustainable development.

2. Natural England has been formed by bringing together English Nature, the landscape, access and recreation elements of the Countryside Agency and the environmental land management functions of the Rural Development Service.

3. Natural England has a budget of £500 million and employs 2,500 people.

4. Natural England’s headquarters are based in Sheffield.