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Photo by BarrytheBirder

Try 'nature prescriptions'

Doctors in Scotland's Shetland islands are to start prescribing birdwatching, hiking and beach walks in the Atlantic winds to help treat chronic and debilitating illnesses for the first time, according to The Guardian newspaper.  Doctors on the islands will be permitted by the archipelago's health board to issue 'nature prescriptions'.  Patients will be given calendars and lists of walks drawn up by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds showing them particular bird species.   Patients will be encouraged to go hill walking on Shetland's upper moors, and directed to seaside paths to watch Fulmars and spot Long-tailed Ducks, oystercatchers and lapwings.  National Health Service Scotland is not suggesting that nature prescriptions will replace conventional medicines.   The program is to supplement normal treatments ... so why not?
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BarrytheBirder