Sussex LNRS: Nature & Health meeting

Hosted by the Sussex Nature Partnership, the Nature & Health meeting brings together representatives from Public Health, NHS, VCSE organisations and supporting groups with the aim of creating a LNRS Health & Wellbeing Task & Finish Group. The remit of this group will be to recommend where the opportunities to improve nature across East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove have wider benefits to people locally, particularly those living in or near areas of deprivation.  Specifically, it will look to identify where we might need new accessible green spaces, as well as where existing spaces can be enhanced for nature and health.

These recommendations will be shared with local planners to inform the two Local Nature Recovery Strategies being developed for Sussex, which in turn will help direct future effort and funding. The first meeting of LNRS Health & Wellbeing Group is Wednesday 28th February 2024, 2-4pm.  Recruitment is via the Sussex Nature Partnership, Health and Nature Forum. 

How are nature and health connected?

Increasing evidence shows the positive effect that spending time in nature has on our health and wellbeing. It also shows the link between the lack of accessible or high-quality wild places or parks for low-income and ethnically diverse communities, who in turn are more likely to suffer poorer health outcomes including heart and lung disease, depression, diabetes and obesity (Source: Rethinking Poverty 2022).