National Tree Week
Between 27 November – 5 December we are celebrating National Tree Week. Started back in 1973, when Dutch Elm disease reached the UK and eventually killed more than 20 million trees, people were encouraged to plant a variety of trees to help fill the gaps left by the lost elms. The campaign was such a success that it continued and as a result The Tree Council was created to manage tree planting and protection for future generations.
Tree planting & events
As the UK’s largest annual tree celebration, this week marks the start of the winter tree planting season (November to March each year). You can celebrate regardless of where you are in the country by joining other tree lovers in planting trees. There is a programme of planting events and an online tree-related arts and culture events that you can see here: https://treecouncil.org.uk/take-action/seasonal-campaigns/national-tree-week/
Getting outside to Love Your Gut
In conclusion, National Tree Week is the perfect reminder to get out into nature more. In fact, just being outdoors is enough to give your gut bacteria a boost. Airborne microbes including a wide variety of bacteria make their way into our systems via the air we breathe, 1 this in turn can increase our microbial diversity – which is associated with individuals who have a healthy gut microbiome!2 For more information and to see how to get ‘Gut Active’ see our tips here.
References
1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4688924/
2 Lozupone CA, Stombaugh JI, Gordon JI, Jansson JK, Knight R. Diversity, stability and resilience of the human gut microbiota. Nature. 2012 Sep;489(7415):220-30.