Where is the investment? Asks Chilterns charity
The Environment Agency says investing in green space is investing in the NHS.
Investing in nature is an investment in the NHS - to keep us all physically and mentally well.
That's the statement made by the Environment Agency and with the Chilterns AONB on our doorstep, we asked the Conservation Board's Chief Exec what she thought.
In a major speech last week, the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency said that universal access to a healthy natural environment could save the NHS billions of pounds a year in treatment costs if everyone in England had access to good quality green space.
Elaine King, the CEO of Chilterns Conservation Board, told us:
"We're finding that people do feel much happier, much calmer, when they do spend time in nature.
"Of course it doesn't have to be the rolling hills of the Chilterns, it could just be in their garden and it would have huge benefits to their health and wellbeing."
Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, added:
"The coronavirus pandemic has exposed and amplified green inequality in society.
"Too many towns and cities in England, especially those with a strong industrial heritage, have too little green space, too few trees, culverted rivers, poor air quality and are at risk of flooding. This holds back economic growth and the building of new homes. It's also a fundamental moral issue.
"Areas of higher deprivation and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic populations have less access to high quality green and blue space and this contributes to differing disease burdens and life expectancy.
"Creating, and connecting people with, green or blue spaces will support new local jobs and benefit health & wellbeing. This is why it is important that the recovery from coronavirus is a green recovery."
Where is the money?
Elaine says it's all very well talking about investment, but it can't come from charities which are struggling for funding during the pandemic.
She added:
"It's not immediately obvious whether there is funding attached to the investment.
"I'm not seeing enough investment yet, to be quite honest, and we want the government to invest more."
Investment could also mean voluntary hours in maintaining and creating access to green spaces.
This is something Elaine says the Board would love to see more of.
They are also arranging events suitable for all and in-line with government guidance in the coming months.
Find out about both these areas here.
The government's 25 year environment plan sets out an ambition to help more people, from all backgrounds, to engage with and spend time in green and blue spaces in their everyday lives.
The government's forthcoming Environment Bill will put the environment at the centre of policy making to ensure that we have a cleaner, greener and more resilient country for the next generation.
Building on this, the Government has also recently announced a further £4 million in a two-year pilot to bring green prescribing to four urban and rural areas that have been hit the hardest by coronavirus.