Nature Doesn’t Need People, But People Need Nature.
Nature provides us with solace and a place to escape from difficult times
Statement announcing closure of People Need Nature
People Need Nature, a charity created in 2015 to promote the emotional sensory and spiritual value of nature, and the importance of nature in people’s everyday lives, has ceased operations as of March 3rd 2026.
PNN achieved a great deal in the 11 years of its life. It produced two reports which influenced the agriculture and land-use policy debate following the UK exit from the EU. Pebble in the Pond sought to lay out a vision for England’s post-Brexit agriculture policy, while “where there’s muck” revealed the multibillion pound tax shelter that farmland provides.
PNN was instrumental in raising awareness of the importance that nature provides as a source of inspiration to artists and writers. It ran a series of six challenges to young poets, with the Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network, perhaps the high point being one of the winning poets reading out his poem to the plenary session of the Glasgow Climate conference COP21. Four of these challengers have been brought together into an anthology “The Earth that whispers at my feet”, published by the Poetry Society in early 2026. Early on, in 2016, PNN organised an expedition to Lodge Hill, a military training camp of extraordinary natural value, that was threatened by housing development. The responses arising from that expedition influenced the eventual salvation of the site. In conjunction with Lush and the late Simon Emmerson of Afro Celt Sound System, PNN produced a meadow soundscape for National meadows Day in 2017. Similar artistic responses to nature were created during the first Covid lockdown when so many were stuck at home, anxious about the future.
In 2020, The National Trust asked People Need Nature to explore community involvement in woodland creation and how art can be integral to that involvement. This work has influenced how the National Trust move forward with their plans for large scale woodland creation. Nature for wellbeing was also the theme for a project which ran from 2023-2025 based in Poundbury Dorset, exploring how nature, art and spirituality can help people struggling with their mental health.
A focus on nature in people’s everyday lives saw the creation of a meadows project in Battle, East Sussex by founding PNN Trustee and meadow maker Keith Datchler. In a similar vein the Poundbury Nature Project started in 2019 and has continued to grow over the past 7 years. Focussing on the green spaces around Poundbury with Poundbury residents and other volunteers carrying out management tasks , this project has acted as a showcase for what can be achieved, for people and nature, by careful management of urban green spaces.
Although the charity has closed, the Poundbury Nature project will continue to operate, led by PNN founder Miles King. Working with the Trustees of the charity over the past 11 years, who generously gave of their time and expertise over the year, he led People Need Nature to bring nature into people’s lives, and encouraged them to see nature, art and spirituality as ways to enrich their lives.
“I’d like to congratulate Miles for all his hard work and for everything he has achieved through People Need Nature over the last eleven years; and to thank everyone involved in this successful organisation which has touched many peoples’ lives and made a real difference to our awareness of the nature world.”
Lisa Schneidau – Chair – People Need Nature
You can contact Lisa on lisa@lisaschaneidau.co.uk
Nature Doesn’t Need People, But People Need Nature.
- Nature provides us with solace and a place to escape from difficult times