1. Nature’s Steps Presenter: Karen Clarke, Natural Resources Wales
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2. The Damage of Disconnection
Fostering a Connection to Nature provides life long health and wellbeing benefits
The Damage of Disconnection
Natural Resources Wales’ purpose is to pursue the sustainable management of natural resources in all of our work to improve Wales' well-being, and provide a better future for everyone. 
Most of us are fully aware of how the freedoms of childhood have been eroded over time.
Being outside in natural spaces with our peers for long periods of time, playing and interacting is no longer the norm.
Some of the changes and impacts on childhood are :
The reduction in childhood roaming – this is now well documented.
We are told that there is a dramatic rise in children’s screen time and less time being physically active.
Vitamin D deficiency due to lack of sun light.
We are being warned that an increase in short-sightedness in children is likely due to a lack of daylight.
Reduction in environmental knowledge and understanding - ‘For a new generation, nature is more abstraction than reality. Increasingly, nature is something to watch, to consume, to wear – to ignore.’
Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods.
You may have heard these phrases that seek to frame this disconnection - “nature deficit disorder“ or “environmental generational amnesia - where modern children’s baselines for healthy environments are degraded generation by generation leading to adults with little understanding or value of nature and it’s resources. E.g. If you have never drunk pristine water, dirty water is experienced as normal.

3. The Benefits of Connection to Nature
Fostering a Connection to Nature provides life long health and wellbeing benefits
The Benefits of Connection to Nature
Evidence supports that specific and tangible health benefits are obtained from connecting and engaging with the natural environment. Being outdoors is good for us in so many ways. Ideally, building in resilience through a connection to nature at a young age will develop healthy life-long behaviours.
The diagram relating health determinates to neighbourhoods (Barton and Grant 2006), shows how a connection to nature positively and negatively impacts on lifestyle, social and community, living and working conditions. It’s a big hitter.
NRW’s Nature Steps model – the main graphic seen here - is a practical tool that seeks to establish a blueprint for life long positive health behaviours, ideally from a very young age but also from whatever level of connection to nature is currently in play.
The Nature Steps is not a new concept but NRW would like to promote this simple, cost effective intervention and to see it embedded at National and Local level, in Welsh Government strategy and programmes including health and wellbeing policy, and within the new education curriculum in Wales.
The next few slides are going to look at these Nature Steps in a little more detail.

4. Fostering a Connection to Nature provides life long health and wellbeing benefits
Steps 1 & 2
What you can do…support, influence and advise and do!
Support families to use and access natural spaces
Influence the development of access to the outdoors close to where people live, work & learn.
Advise partners on the benefits
Get outside and explore!
The first two steps of our communication tool (see graphic on slide 2) represent our emotive connection to nature.
Steps 1 and 2 are a vital foundation to being able to build up understanding, take a position and eventually influence others.
Being in nature – Step one facilitates physical activity, with the corresponding health benefits associated with tackling many of the current key health issues faced in Wales, such as the rise in obesity and Type 2 Diabetes (Welsh Outdoor Recreation Survey, 2015).
Equally, there is a robust evidence base on the mental health benefits of exposure to, and engagement with, natural environments through either passive or active participation, which contribute to stress reduction and dementia treatment (Natural England, 2016).
Connecting with nature - actually really happens at step two and gives real depth to nature based interventions especially in the context of mental health and wellbeing.
Recent research by the RSPB has shown that if a strong connection is made as a child, this will survive total disengagement from the natural environment as a teenager. As an adult that connection will turn into a positive attitude towards the environment, its use and its sustainable management.
Practical examples include encouraging family use of local parks, woods and beaches, influencing projects such as edible playgrounds and nature play facilities, working with partners to raise awareness and skills regarding the benefits of making the most of nature with their client groups.
Physical and Mental Wellbeing benefits – Healthy and Confident individuals
Positive Behaviour Change
Skills and Knowledge for Employment

5. Fostering a Connection to Nature provides life long health and wellbeing benefits
Steps 3 & 4
What you can do…influence, advise and provide
Provide direct learning opportunities
Provide outdoor learning projects
Influence and advise Eco Schools
Influence and advise Healthy Schools
Provide outdoor training and skills for providers
Children are 2.7 times more active during a Forest School session than in an average school day which includes PE
Steps 3 to 6 represent our cognitive connection with nature.
Reiteration can occur many times between 3, 4, 5, and 6 as new knowledge and understanding is acquired through life
and new positions taken.
Step 3 seeks to develop understanding of natural processes, what ecosystems are and what resources nature provides. This starts at a simple level such as observing seasonal changes and the weather but this is a life long learning step with understanding deepening with time and experience.
Step 4 requires a higher level of understanding on our own impacts on the environment as we interact with it.
It is also where we develop a greater appreciation of how our own health and lives are dependant on nature.
Practical examples include: opportunities to learn “in and about” nature. This could be family led, organisational events, University of the 3rd age activities, schools led via delivery models such as Forest School/coastal school, training for adults working in the sector, developing projects such as community gardening clubs, school engagement with educational initiatives such as Eco schools.
Physical and Mental Wellbeing benefits – Healthy and Confident individuals
Positive Behaviour Change
Skills and Knowledge for Employment

6. Fostering a Connection to Nature provides life long health and wellbeing benefits
Steps 5 & 6
What you can do…provide, influence and advise.
Provide or signpost to volunteering, placement opportunities in the outdoors
Influence the preservation and addition of green infrastructure
Advise partners on the multiple benefits
Influence education and training establishments
Referring back to the first slide - If the multiple and wide ranging benefits of a connection to nature are so well documented, why is there a growing global concern that populations are becoming increasingly disconnected from the natural environment?
Wales is also facing real challenges for public health. These challenges include physical inactivity, the increase in obesity, growing mental ill health, dementia and social isolation, and continuing health inequalities.
There are concerns about the burgeoning costs of maintaining good public health and tackling health inequalities.
Nature-based initiatives present possible solutions but policy makers need to further develop their understanding of the benefits to health that nature can provide.
NRW’s ambition is to embed health and wellbeing throughout our programmes and to place a focus on health at the heart of everything that we do. If we can continue to improve access to nature and build confidence in it’s use. we could make a significant contribution to improving peoples health and wellbeing.
Finally, the last 2 steps of our Nature Steps see us taking a personal position on our interactions with the natural world and influencing others. This is hopefully the point where most of us currently stand, so lets conclude with this statement - We all have a part to play, from influencing policy and decision makers, including within our own organisations and work areas, to developing our own understanding of the benefits a connection to nature can provide.
Physical and Mental Wellbeing benefits – Healthy and Confident individuals
Positive Behaviour Change
Skills and Knowledge for Employment