Many of us feel intuitively that being near trees is good for our state of mind, but modern life can let us forget that. Lockdown sharpened the focus on nature and we found ourselves in amongst them again, if not actually hugging them (though research tells us that really does help).
The United Kingdom has way fewer forests (12% of our land area) than most of Europe (47%)1 and that matters in so many ways2. Trees photosynthesise the oxygen we breathe, clean our air, provide homes for threatened wildlife and are our guardians against flooding. Child and adult mental and physical health has been shown to benefit from being with trees3.
There is a lovely new avenue of sweet chestnut trees in Buckingham Park, planted by the children of Buckingham Primary in an initiative which will see them looked after and revisited by the schoolchildren. Through this, local children will learn how to reduce stress levels by being in nature, know they are doing something practical to help the climate, and hopefully form habits for later life.
Your support needed
Behind this and other tree plantings in Shoreham-by-Sea is TreeAction, a not for profit community interest company, which needs a boost to fund more local projects with schools and to grow from its volunteer base. Follow the link to find out more and consider giving to help it flourish.
- https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2017/12/why-do-we-need-trees/
- https://nhsforest.org
- https://www.cityoftrees.org.uk/benefits-tree-planting
