Planting more trees
We’ll continue to develop our resilient tree-scape – looking to understand how we plant the right tree in the right place for the right benefit and with the right care.bTo do this we have developed a Draft Urban Forest Master Plan which sets out our vision for trees across Portsmouth over the next ten years. We have introduced thousands of new trees to council-owned land with the help of volunteers.
We know people are passionate about trees and many people ask us if they can have a tree on their street. We are working hard to understand where we can replace trees that may have been removed from the streetscape.
Find out more about:
- the benefits of trees
- our commitment to trees in our Tree Charter
- If you are worried about a tree, visit Trees in Portsmouth
- Portsmouth Tree Wardens on Facebook
Nature-rich school grounds
We’ll continue to work with schools to develop nature-rich, climate-resilient school grounds.
If you are a teacher or work in a pre-school or education setting and would like to get involved in making space for nature in your setting, supporting children connecting with nature for health and wellbeing then please contact publichealth@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.
What can I do in my setting to improve grounds for nature and wellbeing? Visit these organisations for further information:
- Learning Through Landscapes
- National Education Nature Park
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
- Royal Horticultural Society
- Woodland Trust – order trees
- The Conservation Volunteers
Play and leisure spaces
We’ll continue to develop climate-resilient play and leisure spaces
We are currently assessing spaces across the city to understand their suitability for trees – watch this space for further information.
Health and social care settings
Increase our work with health and social care settings to develop climate-resilient spaces and support more vulnerable residents to connect with nature for their health and wellbeing
We are drawing up plans to create an attractive shaded space that Royal Albert Court day care centre users can access during the summer. If you are interested in developing a nature-rich space for health and well-being at a health and social care setting, please get in touch by emailing publichealth@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.
If you are a health or social care practitioner with an interest in making space for nature where you work or finding out more about nature and health, visit the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare’s NHS Forest Site. NHS Forest has information, resources and case studies illustrating how to create and use green spaces for health and wellbeing in health and social care settings.
Nature on Prescription Handbook is useful for understanding how to work with nature to support treatment and recovery.
The National Academy for Social Prescribing has developed a Green Social Prescribing toolkit.
Develop a nature and health network
We know that through working together we can achieve more. We are keen to understand how we can support community organisations and residents across the city with their nature and health ambitions and are looking to develop a network to exchange ideas, learning, support and action.