Natural Health Service

Land use, and particularly green space, in the UK is quickly becoming a major interest of mine. I'm often frustrated by the lack of 'natural' landscapes available to the public in this country, where so much green space is given over to agriculture, livestock grazing, military exercises and industrial forestry rather than just, you know, nature. Therefore, I was pleased to see on the Ordnance Survey blog that they're working with the NHS to assess the green spaces around NHS properties and residential areas as part of their Green Health Strategy.

As Julie Proctor of Greenpeace Scotland put it in the piece:

“Studies repeatedly show the positive impact that greenspace can have on our quality of life and particularly on health and wellbeing. Greenspace really is our natural health service: a daily dose of green space could be just what the doctor ordered to keep us active and provide tonic for the soul!"

I'm very happy to hear that there is high level recognition of how beneficial access to nature is for mental and physical well being. However, looking at the taxonomy they've used to assess land use for this project, I'm a little concerned that one of the categories is simply 'natural'. Other green spaces are categorised as 'park', 'allotment', 'golf', 'bowls' and 'play space', showing the diversity of managed recreational green spaces in urban environments, but the variety of natural green spaces is glossed over. Are they managed woodland, heath, or an impenetrable blackberry thicket by the side of a train line? Are they fenced off from the public by high fences, subject to a visitors fee, or can anyone visit? Disaggregating this data would go a long way to understanding what types of green spaces we have and who is likely to use them.

Acknowledging the benefits of nature to public health is a very good first step. Next we have to invest in publicly accessible and sustainable natural landscapes.