{"id":117,"date":"2021-03-06T22:20:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-06T09:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sunnyhills.org.nz\/?p=117"},"modified":"2022-06-12T11:59:50","modified_gmt":"2022-06-11T23:59:50","slug":"our-auckland-the-health-benefits-of-green-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sunnyhills.org.nz\/?p=117","title":{"rendered":"Our Auckland – The health benefits of green spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are some key points in Council’s own article shown below; it reminds that we need to create options to help get through the short term so we can move together to our shared long-term strategy. Council don’t appear to disagree with needing greenspace, but they need more money right now. A point so important right now is the need for more trees to help stem climate change – maybe we offer to help plant another 50 trees around the ForthFoot Lane Reserve boundary to help the Mayor’s One Million Trees programme goal?…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the below article, “The research analysed the activities of 12,500 New Zealanders, including 2500 Aucklanders, and found they were less likely to be overweight or suffer from obesity if they lived close to a park.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz\/articles\/news\/2019\/05\/human-nature-part-1\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The health benefits of green spaces<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Published: 1 May 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An increasing body of evidence suggests that a closer connection to nature is good for our heads, our hearts and our lungs. But as Auckland grows, our precious green spaces and trees are increasingly under threat.<\/span> In the first part of a three-part series for OurAuckland, Elly Strang looks at the many benefits green spaces bring to the health of our people and our city.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans have long believed that being in or around nature has healing properties. But the idea was previously more intuitive than evidential \u2013 a warm glow rather than hard science. Now, with large-scale public-health problems such as obesity and depression being linked to a rise in technology, a disconnect from the outdoors and more time spent inside, researchers are showing renewed interest in the topic, and studies from around the world are finding that those who live close to green spaces enjoy positive impacts on both their physical and mental wellbeing.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The science behind green wellbeing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A new Danish study has found that when children grow up with green space around them, they have 55 per cent less risk of developing a range of mental-health problems later in life.<\/strong> Researchers from Aarhus University found that the more greenery a person is exposed to up to the age of 10, the lower the risk of 16 mental disorders, including anxiety and depression, even when controlling for factors such as socio-economics and urbanisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur findings affirm that integrating natural environments into urban planning is a promising approach to improve mental health and reduce the rising global burden of psychiatric disorders,\u201d the study\u2019s authors say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closer to home, a team led by University of Canterbury professor Simon Kingham has studied the effects of public and private green spaces on physical health. The research analysed the activities of 12,500 New Zealanders, including 2500 Aucklanders, and found they were less likely to be overweight or suffer from obesity if they lived close to a park.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGlobally, nearly every study I\u2019ve read says the more green space you\u2019ve got near where you live, the better your health is,\u201d Kingham says. \u201cPark creation and planting in existing public spaces may serve as low-cost disease prevention options.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its 10-year budget released last year, Auckland Council boosted funding for parks, open spaces and community facilities to $3.7 billion, with $1.4 billion set aside for acquiring and developing public open spaces and parks. This was ahead of infrastructure as the single biggest increase within the budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improving equity of access to green space<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kingham says another finding of his team\u2019s study was that people in lower socioeconomic areas tended to have less access to good-quality green spaces. \u201cAll green space is not the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why Auckland Council\u2019s Urban Ngahere (Forest) Strategy<\/a> is vital to the health of the city. It aims to address the unequal distribution of trees across the region and increase the benefits of a green city for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out more about the Urban Ngahere Strategy<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also aims to undo some of the damage done by urbanisation, rising inequality and climate change. The plan is to increase Auckland\u2019s average tree-canopy cover from 18 to 30 per cent, while targeting areas where cover is scarce, such as parts of south Auckland, so that all local board areas have at least 15 per cent cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Penny Hulse, chair of the council\u2019s Environment and Community Committee, says Auckland\u2019s rapid urban growth has swallowed up native bush and open spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t always been the norm to replant trees in areas that have been developed since the 1980s,\u201d she says. \u201cWith higher-density housing we\u2019ve lost a lot of urban trees, as people haven\u2019t always valued them as much as they should.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hulse says so-called \u201cleafy suburbs\u201d have fantastic tree cover, but the urban canopy is not evenly distributed across Auckland. In some neighbourhoods, streetscape planting \u2013 where trees are planted along the roadside \u2013 is also lacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe amalgamation of Auckland\u2019s former councils means we get to look across the whole region to see where those gaps are,\u201d she says. \u201cAmong the lowest on the canopy cover statistics are places like \u014ctara and Papatoetoe. We\u2019d like to make them as leafy as the suburbs in Waitemat\u0101, not just because it\u2019s beautiful, but because it\u2019s better for communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Knowing, growing and protecting’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Urban Ngahere Strategy is underpinned by a three-pillar framework: knowing, growing and protecting. This involves tracking the size, health, condition and distribution of trees around Auckland and increasing the number to boost the benefits and address inequity, while also protecting existing trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hulse says local boards are organising planting in areas that have been degraded, and Mayor Phil Goff\u2019s Million Trees programme<\/a> is a great example of a planting project making big strides. Under the scheme, 648,000 trees were planted around Auckland in the first two planting seasons, and the millionth tree is being planted in T\u014dtara Park on 14 June. Auckland Council collaborates with a range of groups on the plantings, from schools, to community groups, to prison inmates.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting huge numbers of volunteers for planting,\u201d Goff says. \u201cThey\u2019re not as fast as the professionals we use, but they\u2019re there and ready. It\u2019s all about what you want to leave as a legacy. I went and planted 50 native trees, and I\u2019m going to take my grandkids back there and show them the trees when they\u2019re 30, 40, 50 metres high. People get a thrill out of that and know we\u2019re undoing some of the damage done; they see it as a way they can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hulse says planting more trees now is crucial to combat growing inequity as the climate gets warmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClimate change is talked about as an inequity magnifier. In other words, the people most vulnerable to climate change are those at the challenging end of the social scale, and if you look at where the least tree cover is, it\u2019s the vulnerable areas. Internationally, it\u2019s been shown that communities who live in areas where there are lots of trees are able to adapt to warmth more easily, so let\u2019s address those two things together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n