Wildlife is important to everyone, whether they realise it or not. Regular access to a wildlife-rich environment has been proven to reduce rates of obesity, heart disease, depression and even short-sightedness. Children who grow up with regular access to the natural world have better self-esteem, more self-confidence, greater independence and show more initiative than those confined to sterile concrete jungles.

The Trust's Head of Policy, Tony King, has called for governments to recognise the right to a wildlife-rich environment for all.

Living in a wildlife-rich environment has been shown to reduce health inequalities, reducing burdens on the health service and improving people’s quality of life. We believe that everyone should have the right to live in a wildlife-rich world and that is why we are pressing for action from the Scottish Government.

In order for Scotland to fully meet its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child we are calling on the Scottish Government to expressly recognise that every person has the right to access nature and that every child and young person has the right to grow up and live in a high-quality, nature-rich environment with ready access to the physical and mental health benefits, developmental advantages and play opportunities it affords.

The importance of wildlife to health, well-being and child development should be recognised through the greening of the Scottish Government’s Cities Strategy. Health professionals, meanwhile, should be encouraged to prescribe “vitamin N”, or nature, as part of their illness prevention repertoire.

Nature is good for people: let’s recognise that everybody has a right to nature. In order to do that, we all have a responsibility to look after it.