Sunny Stowford; biodiversity, health and wellbeing

I visited Stowford, a favourite spot of ours on the Commons, yesterday (a definite summer fave for my kids) – a green (and blue) space perfect for some R&R away from the hustle of work, chores and screens. It’s also part of my efforts to fit the recommended amount of exercise  into my day (at least 30 mins of moderate exercise, 5 times per week), which is extremely easy when I’m somewhere like this (walking counts!).

There is significant and growing evidence that exercising outdoors can bring greater health and wellbeing benefits than exercising indoors, and that visiting biodiverse environments has an important role to play in our health and wellbeing (see links page). The Pebblebed Heaths (Woodbury and adjacent Commons) is home to a wealth of biodiverse environments and is a European designated site for bird, butterfly, dragonfly and reptile species including the Dartford Warbler, Silver Studded Blue butterfly, Southern Damselfly and Smooth Snake. January isn’t the right season to see any of these (and some are quite elusive) but further info and a preview of the Space for Nature book – with beautiful photographs by Matt Maran – can be found on the links below:

Preview of Space for Nature book with photographs by Matt Maran

Brief overview of European designated species of the Pebblebed Heaths