BBC Radio 4 has just launched the landmark series Plants: From Roots to Riches

Dr Rachel Bragg, Deputy Director of Essex Sustainability Institute, was featured on BBC Radio 4 series Plants: From Roots to Riches presented by Director of Science at Kew Gardens Professor Kathy Willis.

The landmark series looks at our changing relationship with plants over the last 250 years – from being seen as tools to exploit, to objects of beauty, to being an essential global resource we have to conserve.

Dr Bragg was interviewed about the University of Essex’s research into the benefits of exercise in green spaces particularly the impact on mental wellbeing including reducing feelings of stress, boosting natural defences and helping us to concentrate.

She helped Professor Willis find out more about the therapeutic value of ‘green care’. She said: “We found out that people who started off with lower mental health and perhaps weren’t so well seemed to see the biggest improvements after having spent time in nature.

“That led us to look into specific nature interventions that work with different vulnerable groups of people to see the effects they were having. Depending on the client group and the improvements they are seeking we have seen right across the board improvements in mental health, how people feel about themselves and we have found a reduction in feelings of isolation.

“A lot of these interventions are group interventions and so people ask whether it is nature, being with other people or the activities which are getting people really engaged with nature. I think it is a combination of all these factors all working together to have these wide ranging benefits.”

Links:

• Plants: From Roots to Riches
• Essex Sustainability Institute
• Green Exercise Research Team