GREEN IS GOOD...

March 2021 Presentation to Kingston Communities Covid Recovery Task Force, Marilyn Mason, KEF

We need green, and more of it - why? [i] [ii]

• Benefits to public health of access to green spaces and nature include reduced stress, and improved mood [iii], physical [iv] [v] and mental health [vi] [vii], may even enhance children’s brains [viii] ...
• Covid-19 - for the past year a walk has been one of the few consistently permitted activities – and free! Many more people are out and about experiencing the benefits, but also putting pressure on green spaces in Kingston (which has less green space than many neighbouring boroughs[ix], and fairly unequal access – areas of deprivation[x] tend to have fewer gardens and less green space): more litter, more wear and tear and trampled wildlife areas, more dog and human faeces [xi]...
• Ecosystem services [xii] [xiii]: trees, grasses, hedges etc absorb noise and air pollution and CO₂; and can provide natural flood defences, habitats and food for, e g, pollinators and birds, and shade and cooling in long hot summers... (Reminder: Kingston has declared a Climate Emergency.[xiv])

• Everyone can benefit - this is no longer an issue just for nature-lovers, and though it’s difficult to put an economic value on biodiversity (and diversity is important), it’s not impossible. [xv] There is potential for employment and volunteering in a green recovery, but “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”

 

What can we do?

• Support and protect local green spaces: defend them from shrinkage and development (2 green sites of concern to KEF members are Seething Wells (a SINC At Risk) and part of Kingsmeadow where a new school is proposed), damage or over-manicuring or too much mowing; plant, protect and look after local trees, plant for wildlife and pollinators, rewild... And encourage green volunteering and reskilling for green jobs.
• Educate our networks: long grass, mature trees, “weeds” (aka wild flowers) are not signs of Council neglect - naturalisation and biodiversity benefit all of us. Spread the wo
• rd, share the info: learn to love untidiness, don’t complain about dandelions...![xvi]
• Lobby for more green space: everyone should have easy access to nature and green space.[xvii] Can we create more green spaces, biodiversity corridors and local nature reserves, including mini- ones on ro undabouts, traffic islands and verges?
  Could some redundant offices or shops make way for mini-parks or green squares in our town centres[xviii] – or be redeveloped to provide much needed housing and reduce pressure on greener sites (a planning issue that can have negative or positive impacts on nature)?

NOTES 1. USEFUL RESOURCES

• Plantlife - http://www.plantlife.org.uk/
• The London Biodiversity Partnership’s Duty Bound? Biodiversity conservation in London boroughs  
• Trees for Cities - https://www.treesforcities.org/
• March 2016 CPRE report, published at http://www.cprelondon.org.uk/resources/item/2319-the-strongest-protection, highlights threats to London's Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land and what Londoners stand to lose.
• We need trees - https://e-voice.org.uk/greenerkingston/living-landscapes/we-need-trees/ - and Living Landscapes - https://e-voice.org.uk/greenerkingston/living-landscapes/living-landscapes-report/ - on Greener Kingston’s website, with links to other useful websites.
• Kingston Biodiversity Network - https://www.kingstonbiodiversitynetwork.org/
• The Climate Coalition report on the impacts of climate change on public health - https://www.theclimatecoalition.org/health-report
• The London Plan 2021 - https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/the_london_plan_2021.pdf - Chaptr 8 on Green Infrastructure
• The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-the-economics-of-biodiversity-the-dasgupta-review
• Parks for London - https://parksforlondon.org.uk/
• Thames Landscape Strategy - http://thames-landscape-strategy.org.uk/ - Rewilding Arcadia project
• Go Parks London borough maps of parks - https://www.goparks.london/boroughs/
• Green spaces aren’t just for nature – they boost our mental health too, New Scientist, March 2021 -  https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933270-800-green-spaces-arent-just-for-nature-they-boost-our-mental-health-too/#ixzz6qJfuTPjz
  
• Tree Council https://treecouncil.org.uk/ 

• Rewild My Street provides guidance for people wishing to adapt their homes, gardens and streets to encourage wildlife - and stop cities going grey. https://www.rewildmystreet.org/

 

NOTES 2. REFERENCES (a small selection from the masses of available data, research, reports...)