​OUR STORY

Whilst visiting the ancient Zambezi River two Zimbabwean born brothers, Nick and Ed, were struck by the stresses and pressures being placed both on the natural world and fellow humans as a direct consequence of how we are living our lives.

​A passionate desire to protect and conserve the dwindling natural resources of the wilderness of Africa, combined with direct experience in the mental health and well being field, gave birth to the W4Life group of charities.

OUR VISION

​A unique journey to restore Equilibrium in the space of one generation.

​To bring to life the role Conservation and the Wilderness has to play in improving Mental Wellbeing in Sub-Saharan Africa.

​OUR MISSION

​To research, educate and enable the relationship between nature, the wilderness and mental well being, and the use of highly successful and increasingly recognised nature based mental well being and rehabilitation programmes.

To use conservation as a tool to raise awareness of human wildlife conflict, poaching and the stripping of natural habitats and environments and bring about change.

​To stress that the conservation of our natural world is not only important for our physical survival on the planet, but also our mental survival.

The Mental Health Problem

Determinants of mental health and mental disorders include not only individual attributes such as the ability to manage one’s thoughts, emotions, behaviours and interactions with others, but also social, cultural, economic, political and environmental factors such as national policies, social protection, standards of living,working conditions, and community support.

Stress, genetics, nutrition, perinatal infections and exposure to environmental hazards are also contributing factors to mental disorders. Depression is a common mental disorder and one of the main causes of disability worldwide. Globally, an estimated 264 million people are affected by depression. More women are affected than men. Bipolar disorder affects about 45 million people worldwide. It typically consists of both manic and depressive episodes separated by periods of normal mood. Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder, affecting 20 million people worldwide. Psychoses, including schizophrenia, are characterised by distortions in thinking, perception, emotions,language, sense of self and behaviour. Health systems have not yet adequately responded to the burden of mental disorders. As a consequence, the gap between the need for treatment and its provision is wide all over the world.

In low- and middle-income countries, between 76% and 85% of people with mental disorders receive no treatment for their disorder.​

GBD 2017 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence Collaborators. (2018).Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32279-72Wanget al., (2007). Use of mental health services for anxiety, mood, and substance disorders in 17 countries in the WHO world mental health surveys. The Lancet.

The Conservation Problem

​At a time when the world is reeling from the deepest global disruption and health crisis of a lifetime, this year’s Living Planet Report provides unequivocal and alarming evidence that nature is unravelling and that our planet is flashing red warning signs of vital natural systems failure. The Living Planet Report 2020 clearly outlines how humanity’s increasing destruction of nature is having catastrophic impacts not only on wildlife populations but also on human health and all aspects of our lives.

●It shows an average 68% decrease in population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish between 1970 and 2016.
●A 94% decline in the Living Planet Index for the tropical sub regions of the Americas is the largest fall observed in any part of the world.
●Since the industrial revolution, human activities have increasingly destroyed and degraded forests, grasslands,wetlands and other important ecosystems, threatening human well-being.
●Seventy-five per cent of the Earth’s ice-free land surface has already been significantly altered, most of the oceans are polluted, and more than 85% of the area of wetlands has been lost.
●To feed and fuel our 21st century lifestyles, we are overusing the Earth’s bio capacity by at least 56%.
●Data from the United Nations Environment Programme shows that, per person, our global stock of natural capital has declined by nearly 40% since the early 1990s, while produced capital has doubled and human capital has increased by 13%.

ZSL manages the Living Planet Index®in a collaborative partnership with WWF. WWF is one of the world’s largest and most experienced independent conservation organizations. Founded in 1826, ZSL (Zoological Society of London) is an international conservation charity working to create a world where wildlife thrives. WWF (2020) Living Planet Report 2020 - Bending the curve of biodiversity loss.Almond, R.E.A., Grooten M. and Petersen, T. (Eds). WWF, Gland, Switzerland

The Nature & Mental Health Solution

​Narratives dating back two millennia and across cultures describe natural settings as places of refuge and comfort in times of psychological distress. For centuries, writers, composers, painters and poets, have revered nature and appreciated its ability to inspire awe and wonder, serenity and peace, whilst philosophers,physicians, teachers and politicians have made regular reference to its healing and restorative qualities.

However, surprisingly, it is only within the past forty years that researchers have begun to investigate the effects of spending time in, or looking at, nature with any degree of scientific rigour. It is now well known that positive interaction with the natural world, and working with animals, enhances mental well being.

There have been several, well documented studies published in The Lancet and these studies prove a correlation between nature and mental health Zelenski and Nisbet found that nature not only makes us happy in the moment, but causes us to feel happier in the future when no longer in nature.

The UK Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan states: “Spending time in the natural environment... improves our mental health and feelings of well being. It can reduce stress, fatigue,anxiety and depression.” Most recently, scientists have been investigating natural killer (NK)cells in the blood, which, as part of our innate immune system,attack cells infected with a given virus, and appear to increase in number after spending time in nature (Li et al., 2006, 2007)

Zelenski, J. M., & Nisbet, E. K. (2014). Happiness and feeling connected: The distinctrole of nature relatedness. Environment and Behavior, 46(1), 3-23

Images © Andrew Holme