Benefits of Access to Nature

Coordinated efforts between local agencies and partners such as school districts and community-based organizations can maximize benefits to both young people and their communities, including:

• Improved health outcomes, including lower rates of childhood obesity
• Stronger academic skills, achievement, and engagement
• Increased opportunities for social and emotional learning
• Strong social connections to family members and community
• Increased creativity, self-esteem, focus cooperation, and executive function
• Cultivation of a long-term ethic of environmental stewardship and improved ecological literacy.