Introduction

Growing Plymouth’s Health and Wealth through the Natural Environment

James Diamond Area Manager

Devon Cornwall & Isles of Scilly

New understanding of the value of nature

Provisioning services

Fresh water

Food (eg crops, fruit, fish, etc)

Fibre and fuel (eg timber, wool, etc)

Genetic resources (used for crop/stock breeding and biotechnology)

Biochemicals, natural medicines, pharmaceuticals

Ornamental resources (eg shells, flowers, etc)

Regulatory services

Air quality regulation

Climate regulation (local temp. /precipitation, GHG sequestration, etc)

Water regulation (timing/scale of run-off, flooding, etc)

Natural hazard regulation (ie storm protection)

Pest regulation

Disease regulation

Erosion regulation

Water purification and waste treatment

Pollination

Cultural services

Cultural heritage

Recreation and tourism

Aesthetic value

Spiritual and religious value

Inspiration of art, folklore, architecture, etc

Social relations (eg fishing, grazing, cropping communities)

Supporting services

Soil formation

Primary production

Nutrient cycling (water recirculation in landscape)

Water recycling

Photosynthesis (production of atmospheric oxygen)

Provision of habitat

Thanks to Mark Everad from EA for this slide

What you don’t consider you may lose!

Why it matters

Multiple issues for places and people

• Air pollution reduces average UK life expectancy by 7-8 months• Urban flooding costs £270 million a year in England and Wales.

• The cost of environmental damage from polluted urban wash-off has been estimated at £150 - £250 million.

• Resources – SWW investing in restoring habitats on Dartmoor to clean Plymouth’s drinking water.

• Maintaining UK's green spaces would deliver £30bn in health and welfare benefits each year. However, failing to do so would cost £20bn each year.

• Mental illness was estimated as a £77.4 billion welfare loss to the UK.

• Insufficient physical activity costs the UK £8.2 billion annually• Biodiversity – specialist species being squeezed, loss of diversity

New partners

• Heart of Southwest Local Enterprise Partnership and Plymouth City Deal-strategic view of the economy and environment

• Plymouth Local Nature Partnership- bringing together local interests to best manage the natural environment

• Health & Wellbeing Board- forum to improve the health & wellbeing and reduce health inequalities

• Well supported voluntary sector e.g. Groundwork, Devon Wildlife Trust & Community Trusts

Natural England: Sharing evidence, advice, expertise, support

• Microeconomic Evidence for the Benefits of Investment in the Environment (MEBIE)

• Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE)• Natural England’s Health and the Natural Environment web page

info pack contains a wealth of research references.  • Green Infrastructure valuation tools - an assessment • Green Infrastructure as a catalyst for economic growth (with

Defra)• Local Environment and Economic Development toolkit

• .........And our advice & funding helps to secure positive change e.g. Blue Sound, Stepping Stones to Nature, Saltram Country Park, Stairway to Devon, Natural Connections

Rethinking the environment as a catalyst

• encourages inward investment to an area

• attracts increased visitor spending in an area

• saves environmental costs

• provides health benefits

• generates employment

Nature as a catalyst for inward investment

• 95% of real estate developers and consultants across Europe believe that open space adds value to commercial property

• On average, developers would be willing to pay at least 3% more for land in close proximity to open space, with some putting the premium as high as 15-20%

• Before the development of High Line Park (NY), properties nearby were valued 8% less than median in Manhattan. Between 2003 and 2011 the values near the park increased by 103%, surpassing the New York average..

Nature and Tourism

• Visits by UK residents to the countryside and/or villages contribute £5.5 billion annually to the economy in England (1)

• Recreational visits to Forestry Commission estates have an economic value of £3.354 million per annum (2)

• It is estimated that people visiting Osprey watching sites in the UK bring total additional expenditure of £3.5 million per year (3)

1) Deloitte and Oxford Economics, 2010.2) Willis and Garrod, 1991. 3) Dickie et al., 2006.

Urban flooding costs £270 million a year in England and Wales(1).

• It is been predicted that this will increase to between £1 and £10 billion a year by 2080 unless preventative action is taken(1).

• Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) are cost-effective ways to reduce flood risk(2).

• Green roofs(3) and urban trees(4) retain rainwater reducing flood risk.

1) PARLIAMENTARY OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 2007. Urban flooding2) DUFFY, A, JEFFERIES, C, WADDELL, G, SHANKS, G, BLACKWOOD, D & WATKINS, A 2008. A cost comparison of traditional drainage and SUDS in

Scotland. Water Science & Technology, 57, 1451-1459. SUDS involve retaining water above ground near to where it falls. Duffy found the capital costs of SUDS to be less than half that of traditional drainage and maintenance costs to also be lower.

3) MENTENS, J, RAES, D & HERMY, M 2006. Green roofs as a tool for solving the rainwater runoff problem in the urbanized 21st century? Landscape and Urban Planning, 77, 217-226.

4) XIAO, Q, MCPHERSON, EG, SIMPSON, JR & USTIN, SL 1998. Rainfall interception by Sacramento's urban forest. Journal of Arboriculture, 24, 235-244.

Flood risk management

Mental Health

Mental illness estimated as a £77.4 billion welfare loss to the UK(1).

• Time ‘in nature’ promotes recovery from stress and attention fatigue, and has positive effects on mood, concentration and self-discipline(2).

• There are is evidence which strongly suggests a long-term relationship between chronic stress and access to green space(3,4).

1) THE SAINSBURY CENTRE FOR MENTAL HEALTH 2003. The economic and social costs of mental illness. 2) HEALTH COUNCIL OF THE NETHERLANDS 2004. Nature and Health. NATURE AND FOOD QUALITY AGRICULTURE. The Hague3) GRAHN, P & STIGSDOTTER, UA 2003. Landscape planning and stress. Urban forestry & urban greening, 2, 1-18. 4) NIELSEN, TS & HANSEN, KB 2007. Do green areas affect health? Results from a Danish survey on the use of green areas and

health indicators. Health & Place, 13, 839-850.

Health & Physical activity

Insufficient physical activity costs the UK £8.2 billion annually• These is a relationship between quantity

of accessible green space and population health – even when you control for wealth and other factors(1,2,3,4)

• People use green space much more when it is in short walking distance(5,6).

• Local context is crucial, poor-quality green space where there are concerns for personal safety will be used less(7)

.

1) DE VRIES, S, AVERHEIJ, R, PGROENEWEGEN, P & SPREEUWENBERG, P 2003. Natural environments-healthy environments? An exploratory analysis of the relationship between greenspace and health. Environment and Planning A, 35, 1717-1731

2) MAAS, J, VERHEIJ, RA, GROENEWEGEN, PP, DE VRIES, S & SPREEUWENBERG, P 2006. Green space, urbanity, and health: how strong is the relation? Journal of epidemiology and community health, 60, 587.

3) TAKANO, T, NAKAMURA, K & WATANABE, M 2002. Urban residential environments and senior citizens’ longevity in megacity areas: the importance of walkable green spaces. Journal of epidemiology and community health, 56, 913.

4) MITCHELL, R & POPHAM, F 2008. Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities: an observational population study. The Lancet, 372, 1655-1660 5) GILES-CORTI, B, BROOMHALL, MH, KNUIMAN, M, COLLINS, C, DOUGLAS, K, NG, K, LANGE, A & DONOVAN, RJ 2005. Increasing walking:: How important is distance to,

attractiveness, and size of public open space? American journal of preventive medicine, 28, 169-176. 6) NEUVONEN, M, SIEVÄNEN, T, TÖNNES, S & KOSKELA, T 2007. Access to green areas and the frequency of visits-A case study in Helsinki. Urban forestry & urban greening,

6, 235-247. 7) URBAN GREEN SPACES TASK FORCE 2002. Green Spaces. Better Places. LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE REGIONS/ DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT. London.

Reconnect people and nature

Volunteering has helped build my self-esteem and confidence as an individual.

It has lifted my depression that I have suffered over many years by having a reason to get up in the mornings and enabled me to form routine within my life.

I love the work we do and appreciate the easy access we are creating for members of the public, due to my son having cerebal palsy. I’m now able to easily push his wheelchair through the woods so he can enjoy his environment around him in nature.

Stepping Stones to Nature volunteer, Plymouth