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    Our health depends on nature.

    Protecting our lands and waters is a public health issue. When we save nature, we save ourselves.

    • Children who spend time in nature tend to perform better on standardized tests, demonstrate more enthusiasm toward school and have fewer attendance problems.

    • Approximately half of adults, and 77 percent of high school-aged youth, don’t get enough of the physical activity that is key to preventing chronic diseases.

    • A study of 20,000 people found that those who spend at least two hours a week in nature were substantially more likely to report good health and mental well-being than those who do not.

    • Scientists are beginning to understand the ability of trees and greenery to absorb pollutants in the air known to cause asthma, heart and lung disease and strokes.

    Land trusts have already conserved 61 million acres of private land across the nation — more than all of the national parks combined. Help us conserve another 60 million acres by the end of the decade.

    Together, let’s keep Gaining Ground.

    Land trusts are gaining ground for our health.

    Efforts by land trusts to permanently protect wildlife habitat, scenic, agricultural and other green spaces across the country result in more places where people can connect with nature to benefit their physical and mental health.

    Together, we are gaining ground.

    Land trusts at work

    Learn how land trusts across the country are gaining ground.

    “Veterans of former and recent conflicts deal with wounds both visible and undetectable to the eye. But healing has begun for many through the growing efforts of land trusts in a collaboration of land and life as land trusts and their conservation partners develop innovative programs for veterans. The results, say organizers, have been truly life affirming and life changing.”
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    Learn more about what land trusts across the country are doing to benefit the physical and mental health of our veterans.

    Together, we can conserve, restore and use nature sustainably, but only through transformative change. Making these changes can seem too big for any one person, however, supporting land trusts is an easy and tangible way to have a positive impact for the land. Join us in ensuring that all people have access to places that improve our health and quality of life while also benefiting the planet we all share.

    Make a lasting impact