HRH The Princess Royal and the Woodland Trust want to raise awareness of the importance of trees and woodland creation this International Day of Forests (Sunday 21st March 2021).
The Trust aims to establish 50 million trees across the UK over the next five years, and recently announced £2.9m to help fund green spaces for local communities across the UK, calling on more people to get involved in tree planting in urban areas.
The Princess Royal, who has served as Patron of a number of Woodland Trust projects, has recorded a video message to mark the International Day of Forests. Her Royal Highness said:
“Life has changed for all of us over the last 12 months and during the most challenging of times we have become aware of the importance of having regular access to green space.”
Around 80% of people in the UK currently live in urban areas, yet only 15% of the population currently has access to local woodland within 500m of their home.
Evidence shows that accessing greenspace can greatly benefit both physical and mental health – a topic which has been high on the agenda since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and which highlighted the need for more accessible green space for people.
Studies of hospital patients previously found that they recovered more quickly with a view of trees and nature from their windows and additional research showed that being in close proximity to trees enhanced people’s mood, improved self-esteem and lowered blood pressure.
By creating more green space in urban areas, not only does it help to improve wellbeing but is a driving force in tackling the climate and nature emergencies by locking up carbon and creating more havens for wildlife.
HRH continued:
“People have found comfort in woodland – they are calming and magical places. We all benefit from our woods and trees but could do with a great deal more of them.”
