why nature matters
NATURE AND THE CLIMATE
The climate crisis is driven by two things
1 – Emissions of greenhouse gases cause global warming and ocean acidification. Emissions come mainly from burning fossil fuels for heating, transport and manufacturing, as well as from some forms of agriculture.
2 – The loss of natural landscapes reduces the absorption of carbon dioxide. It also compromises our resilience to floods and droughts.
Globally, the greatest loss of natural lands is to commercial agriculture. But this shift took place centuries ago in England. Here, the greatest pressures arise from the conversion of farmlands and other open spaces into housing estates, industrial parks and distribution depots.
In both cases, it’s our consumer lifestyle that is compromising the Earth’s ability to sustain us. We’re over-using the Earth’s finite resources by some 75%.
Land use conversion is one of the greatest contributors to climate change.
Sterile spruce plantations are far from biodiverse.
NATURE AND BIODIVERSITY
Everything we need to sustain us comes from nature
The diversity of nature is a bounty on which we totally depend. From the insects which pollinate our crops, to the crops themselves, and the networks of fungi and bacteria that make them grow, it’s all ‘nature’. We humans evolved as part of nature, not apart from it.
Scientists reckon we need to protect and preserve 30-50% of the Earth’s natural landscapes and oceans to ensure the necessary level of biodiversity to sustain human existence.
Human activity has already affected more than 75% of the Earth’s surface. In spite of international agreements, we’re continuing to over-exploit it and destroy it.
We believe the solution starts at home.
NATURE AND HEALTH
Spending time in nature is essential for our well-being
The lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 demonstrated clearly how important it is to get out into the wide world and the open air. It’s essential for our physical and mental health.
The explosion in lifestyle syndromes such as obesity, diabetes, anxiety and depression, allergies and weakened immune systems correlates with a disconnect from nature.
Conversely, evidence suggests that greater exposure to, or contact with, natural environments such as parks, woodlands and beaches is associated with better health and well-being.
It’s so important that social prescribing’ is now being used as a formal intervention to improve people’s health through exposure to nature.
Two hours a week is all it takes.
Finding the Sacred in Nature
We need to regain our nature connection
In times gone by, we lived immersed in nature and natural phenomenon. We studied and celebrated nature in its many forms. Our survival depended upon it. But that’s still the case. The seasons, the weather, the complex interplay of lifeforms, these are what keep us alive. We need to regain that connection and treat nature as if it really matters, as if it’s sacred.