When I wrote last summer about the research report that the University of Essex had written for the Wildlife Trusts, it had not been published. Now it has. You might recall that I wasn't all that taken with the report.
Here are a couple of my main points:
"I was also rather disappointed by the report as I had hoped for greater clarity around what is particularly effective, although I probably expected too much, given the conceptual confusion that besets this subject where words like nature, natural, wild and environment are all used very loosely, even by people who know they should do better. In particular, I regret that the research review was not written in a way that allows readers to see how much confidence they can place in the outcomes of particular studies."
"I struggled with the idea of ‘green exercise’, which is defined as activity "in the presence of nature". What does this mean, given that when we are outdoors, we are inevitably "in nature" to some extent. As noted above, what is being claimed is that exercise is better for us when nature is more pronounced or of higher quality. Running through 'improved' grassland (or an urban park) clearly counts as "in nature", even though the species diversity might be low, but the argument is that the same amount and degree of exercise is better for us when done in a wildlife-rich meadow, even though the evidence for this is not (yet) compelling. Thus, the argument goes, being in-doors on an exercise bike is not as good for us as being in high quality nature, even if we spend the time on the bike gazing out of the window at birds in the garden – despite the physical element of the exercise being the same. There is clearly considerable confusion here."
I still think it's madness to encourage people to get into their cars and drive huge distances to find great biodiversity. Mostly, I'm staying put and walking near where I live – within walking distance, that is – and making do with a more modest biodiversity experience which is often full of surprises, such as the group of long-tailed tits that darted around us yesterday. Anyway, whenever I do manage to get to a wildflower meadow without squandering too much carbon, the last thing I want to find there is a bunch of joggers elbowing me out of the way or trampling the ragged robin.
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