How to get your daily dose of well being on the North York Moors in RSPB collaboration

This project has been developed by the trust and park authority in a bid to reverse worsening health outcomes and dwindling opportunity for people to spend time outdoors or engage in nature-based activities.

It comes as similar Nature Prescription pilot projects, delivered by the RSPB in Scotland, have found that three in four patients said their mental health and wellbeing had benefited from the prescription and 87 per cent of people said they would continue to have a meaningful connection with nature, such as gardening or visiting local parks or beaches more regularly.

RSPB Nature Prescriptions suggest free and accessible activities for people to strengthen their connection with nature, activities which can be done from home, on their own or with others, in rural or urban settings, following a guided conversation between a healthcare professional and their patient.

North York Moors Trust director James Metcalfe said: “We are proud to be helping deliver an aspirational approach to lifting the health and wellbeing of people and communities in the North York Moors and surrounding areas such as Whitby and Scarborough.

“Supporting nature connection is a positive, proactive, and cost-effective response to the declining health of people and nature by bringing them together and unlocking the reciprocal benefits of doing so, such as reducing stress and anxiety and encouraging indeendent action to protect and enhance nature and biodiversity.”

Through the project, staff from the RSPB and the park authority will train healthcare professionals to have conversations with their patients about the importance of connecting with nature and co-create a seasonal calendar of local nature-based activity suggestions for patients.

Local healthcare professionals will become the first in North Yorkshire to use the RSPB Nature Prescriptions.

The project was launched last month, with the first nature activities to be prescribed from spring 2024. The North York Moors Trust, North York Moors National Park Authority, and RSPB will release a report revealing the impact of the project in 2025. The RSPB is running a parallel project with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, making this a North Yorkshire-wide initiative using Nature Prescriptions to lift the health and wellbeing of people and communities from Whitby to Wensleydale.

Heather McNiff, head of outdoor learning and engagement at the North York Moors National Park Authority, said: “The National Park Authority is looking forward to supporting people in North Yorkshire to engage with nature and the outdoors in new ways and making these opportunities accessible, whether in the National Park or beyond.

"We know that spending time in the natural environment, with its inherent beauty and therapeutic qualities, can play a critical role in our physical and mental health and help reduce feelings such as loneliness.

"Whether it’s listening to birds through open windows, watching the murmurations of starlings, a five-minute stroll during a busy lunchbreak, noticing the different colours of autumn leaves, or simply sitting by water, these experiences can contribute to an overall sense of positive wellbeing.”

The project is one of 13 being funded in 2023 by Beyondly, a Skipton-based B Corp-certified environmental consultancy and compliance scheme, through its Fund for Change.

Beyondly commits five per cent of its net profit to charitable projects which make a positive impact across Yorkshire and which address environmental, social and governance issues that are important to its aims, values, and stakeholders.