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Everyone knows how good you can feel after spending the day surrounded by nature.
However the health benefits of ‘connecting people to nature,’ the theme of this year’s World Environment Day on June 5, go deeper than that. They include global gains for mental health, disease control and the discovery of life-improving medicines.
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and researchers have found that spending more time in green spaces result in lower levels of stress, and fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. Interacting with nature can also improve cognition for children with attention deficits and people with depression.
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A report from the National Trust, a UK conservation charity, says something must be done about ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’ a term to describe the human costs of alienation from nature.
Though not a recognised medical condition, Nature Deficit Disorder captures how more and more children are “missing out on the pure joy of connection with the natural world; and as a result, as adults they lack an understanding of the importance of nature to human society.”
The report said the trend towards a sedentary, indoor childhood risks storing up social, medical and environmental problems for the future.
In an interview with the United Nations, Sir David Attenborough said that it is clear that in times of trouble people find comfort in the natural world – even just by seeing it.
“And you don't have to be out in the countryside. Even in towns, I’ve worked with a charity dedicated to persuading schools to swap tarmac for even a simple pond, and children draw enormous fascination from them. There isn’t a child that doesn't get filled with wonder by nature, even from a very early age.
“If you lose passion for nature you’ve lost one of more precious things human beings have. It is the source of everything we find beautiful,” he said.
He said that “once the flame is lit it will keep on burning.
“Natural history is buried deep in our hearts in Britain for example. Yet it is only thanks to the Industrial Revolution and people losing nature that you begin to realise how precious it is.
Details: www.worldenvironmentday.global/