According to a new report, visiting woodlands across Britain boosts mental wellbeing and is said to save around £185m in treatment costs.
The report, released during ‘National Tree Week,’ was funded by the Forestry Commission, Scottish Forestry and the Welsh Government. It is the first time that the mental health benefits of the United Kingdom’s woodlands have been quantified.
According to the study, woodlands in England save around £141m worth of mental health treatment costs, including inpatient care, drug prescriptions, doctor visits, social services, and days lost from work due to poor mental health.
The figures were gleaned from evidence of the diminished occurrence of depressive episodes and anxiety resulting from regular visits to British woodlands.
Access to natural environments, including urban parks and green spaces, has become increasingly important for wellbeing with the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, which has itself caused the pervasiveness of mental illness to increase.
Over the past 10 years, visits to British woodlands accounted for 14.1% of all visits to green spaces; trees and areas of dense woodland are important for urban communities, supporting their wellbeing, improving quality of life, while at the same time reducing pollution.
The report also found that urban trees save around £16m in mental health costs. This figure was calculated through the avoided antidepressant costs related to mental health issues.
It is also expected that, in the long term, the value of woodlands to mental health services will skyrocket to just over £11bn, with a further £1bn in growth for the benefits of urban trees.
“This report demonstrates just how vital it is to invest in healthy trees and woodlands,” said Sir William Worsley, Chair of the Forestry Commission.
“It makes medical sense, because it will mean better health for all; economic sense, by saving society millions of pounds and it makes environmental sense, helping us to tackle the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.
“This National Tree Week, let’s all step outside, enjoy trees in town and countryside and reap the benefits of being close to nature.”
According to Forest Research, nearly half of the population surveyed stated that they have spent more time outside after the pandemic than they did before it, and the majority of adults agreed that their level of happiness in nature and woodlands has increased.
This news comes as the British government pledged to triple the rate of tree planting by the end of this parliament with the implementation of the England Trees Action Plan.
The plan is expected to deliver unprecedented tree planting rates and create diverse treescapes across the country to benefit the wildlife, environment, and people’s personal wellbeing.
