Natural England Launches New Countryside Code Guidance to Support Farmers and Land Managers

• New guidance to support farmers and land managers released to help the public enjoy the countryside in a responsible and respectful way

• Guidance includes advice on making rights of way more accessible, clearer signage, and how to report anti-social behaviour

• Advice follows the newly refreshed Countryside

Code for the public, over 70 years since the first booklet was published in 1951

With more people enjoying the outdoors than ever before, Natural England, in partnership with Natural Resources Wales, has today (8 February 2022) set out new guidance for land managers to help them ensure that visitors to the countryside can enjoy it in a responsible way.

Published under the Countryside Code, the update provides recommendations to land managers on making rights of way accessible, creating safer environments and installing clear signage to help the public respect, protect and enjoy the countryside.

The new guidance advises farmers and land managers on how to make land more accessible, for example by adding self-closing gates instead of stiles where possible and using better signage, and how to report anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping, littering, livestock worrying and other offences correctly. These changes will allow more people to access nature safely whilst also supporting land managers and helping to avoid damage to property, livestock and wider anti-social behaviour.

As well as advice for protecting livestock, using machinery in public spaces and the safe storage of chemicals, other key changes include: • Clearer guidance on keeping rights of way usable, including recommendations for cutting back vegetation and keeping public waterways clear • Instructions for where visitors can walk freely on open access land or in a coastal margin • Information about common land and understanding that horse-riding rights are applicable • The process of reporting anti-social behaviour – criminal damage and threatening behaviour will not be tolerated, and farmers and land managers are advised to contact the police to report any such incidents

• Advice on reporting noise disturbances and fly-tipping to the local authority • Guidance on managing and protecting livestock, and a reminder of responsibilities when using firearms and fencing • Advice for creating a safe environment, including the safe storage of bales, logs and the management of trees • Information on using and storing dangerous substances responsibly

Marian Spain, Chief Executive of Natural England, said:

“With more people than ever before spending time in nature, this refreshed advice for land managers has never been more important in helping to ensure we work together to protect our outdoor spaces.

“I urge all land managers to follow this new advice and continue to help make nature accessible to everyone, so people of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy the invaluable health and wellbeing benefits that nature offers, while giving it the respect it deserves.”

Lord Benyon, Minister for Rural Affairs, said:

“We want to ensure that nature is accessible for all, whilst also supporting people to do the right thing when they are visiting the countryside.

“The new advice in the Countryside Code will help farmers and land managers to help the public enjoy the outdoors in a responsible way. I am grateful to all of those stakeholders who have helped shape this updated guidance.”

Natural England and Natural Resources Wales have worked alongside stakeholders, including the National Farmers Union (NFU), Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Country Landowners Association (CLA), to develop advice which offers clear guidance to land managers and ensures the public can enjoy the countryside in a safe and respectful way.

The new advice for land managers follows the publication of the refreshed Countryside Code last year, which was revisited following a growth in people spending time outdoors during the pandemic.

The Countryside Code now covers all green spaces, waterways, the coast, and parks in urban areas. To help people of all ages and backgrounds enjoy the countryside responsibly, the public code encourages people to ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’ and reminds visitors to not litter and avoid feeding livestock, horses, or wild animals.

Who Really Dictates Your Life? 5 Top Tips to Make The Power of Your Gut Microbiome Work in Your Favour

Have you ever followed your ‘gut feeling’ or experienced ‘butterflies in the gut’? Described disappointment as being ‘gutted’ or called overeating a ‘greedy gut’? Not just old sayings: our mind and gut are strongly connected and the gut has tremendous powers to transform our lives - our decisions, behaviours, feelings and actions - negatively and positively. A balanced gut is the key to living your best day every day. Your gut is the largest host to an ecosystem of bacteria and micro-organisms which generally make up about 90% of who we are, the microbiome. Two-thirds of the body’s microbiome lives in your gut and keeping it balanced is critical for optimal health.

“All disease begins in the gut”

Hippocrates said this over 2000 years ago. It’s not 100% true, but your gut bacteria strongly affect your health. A damaged gut lining allows undesirable bacterial products (endotoxins) and undigested food-particles to ‘leak’ into your bloodstream (‘Leaky Gut’). These harmful ‘invaders’ are attacked by your immune system leading to inflammation and chronic inflammation can lead to common ailments. See a list of the common ailments above right. THE POWER OF YOUR GUT There are 5 main areas of health that are affected by your

gut microbiome:

1. Immunity; over 70% of your immune system stems from the gut. 2. Hormones; over 70% of hormones are produced in the gut - an imbalanced microbiome leads to bad sleep, low energy, lack of ‘umpf’, menopausal symptoms, cravings and mental health issues like depression (90-95% of Serotonin come from the gut!), anxiety or brainfog for example. 3. Brain Health; the gut is called your ‘second brain’. Gut microbes use the Vagus nerve to send 9x more messages to the brain than the other way around! Gut badies’ send negative messages – feel low, don’t do that, cravings – whilst the good microbes tell the brain to make positive choices – sleep well, be alert, do more, eat healthier.

So, who REALLY dictates your doings??!

4. Digestion & Metabolism; Making good food choices is important but if your gut cannot extract the nutrients from the foods or activate specific vitamins for example, then this 180 LANCASHIRE & NORTH WEST MAGAZINE

is like filling up your car with holes in the tank and dirty filters, i.e. you simply would not get the fuel to the engine. 5. Genes; the behaviour of your genes can be altered by lifestyle (see next month’s article) and knowing your genetic codes can help prevent inflammation and illness.

5TOP TIPS FOR A ‘HEALTHY GUT = HAPPIER YOU’ Many factors influence the balance of your microbiome, with our lifestyle – diet, exercise, medication - and the environment – pollution, chemicals - probably being the biggest ones.

So let’s look at how we can make a difference.

1. FOOD CHOICES Consumer habits have changed dramatically. Foods need to be easy to prepare and eat, have a long shelf-life and we are told to choose “low-fat”, “low-sugar” or “high protein” to control our weight. We have sacrificed good quality nutrition for ease and convenience. This attacks our gut health daily. TOP TIP: Buy fresh, local, seasonal as it is least stored and transported. Eat a variety of foods – the more colours on your plate the better mix of nutrients you will get. Read the label, ‘low anything’ usually means (unhealthy) ‘artificial additives’. Plain yoghurt with fruit and honey or cinnamon is cheaper, healthier and delivers more than the supermarket shelf alternatives. Consume plenty of probiotic foods and fibre (= prebiotics = food for good bacteria) like fermented foods, legumes, pulses and wholegrain. Quality supplements may help, too. Alcohol kills good bacteria, drink responsibly. 2. UNDERSTAND MEDICATION Medication can be life saving; but medication unsettles your gut and routine over-use can cause serious digestive issues. It takes your body approximately six months to restore the loss of good bacterial balance after just 1 course of antibiotics, for example. Antidepressants affect the gut’s ability to produce serotonin, the hormone depression sufferers lack.

3. REDUCE HOUSEHOLD CHEMICALS “Kills 99.99% of bacteria” grabs our attention on cleaning products. But WE are made of 90% bacteria… think about who you are really attacking when you use those killing agents. Air fresheners deliver 24/7 toxic chemicals in your home/car which will sit on your respiratory system. TOP TIP: Open doors and windows 2x per day for 10minutes to get fresh air; send air fresheners and scented anything with a no-return ticket to the bin! Use pure essential oils sparingly in diffusers if you fancy a fragrance in your rooms. Replace the killer-soaps in the kitchen and bathroom with normal soap. Just a few ideas. 4.RELAX AND MOVE Stress shuts down digestion, immune response and the nervous system. Whilst stress response, fight-andflight mode, is a healthy survival mechanism for specific situations in life, we live lives of 24/7 stress. TOP TIP: Create a routine of down-time and daily exercise to allow all systems to re-balance. Little slivers of de-stress throughout the day make a massive difference to your gut health.

5. DETOXIFY REGULARLY Exposure to polluted water and air, in addition to chemical additives used to improve product characteristics of standard household or beauty products, means, that even with the best of intentions to avoid toxins, we simply cannot escape them. This is a compounding burden to our (gut-)health. TOP TIP: Regularly detoxify your body and help restore good gut-balance. Do simple detoxes (ie. cut out ‘the bad’ for a period of time) 3-6x per year. It’s like a Spring-Clean at home. In addition, do at least one cellular detox every year, which is more like a refurb of your home. Such detox should help to draw out toxins and negative elements from deep inside the cells, help heal existing damage (like leaky gut) and replenish your gut with important nutrients that help rebuilt the mucosal lining, add plenty of good bacteria and ‘feed’ those with good fibres.

FIX THE GUT = FIX THE PROBLEM

Take one step at a time towards living your best life. In my clinics I combine the power of Science, Nutrition and Mindfulness to help you become the best version of yourself, with a series of transformational programmes, designed around you and your lifestyle.  Send me your questions / feedback.  Book your no-obligation 20minute ‘Explore’ Call to find out how you can level up  Do a FREE Lifestyle Analysis online: https://julia.influencersoftconnect.com/la?utm_source=FB

CONTACT: Julia Riewald – Success & Health Coaching N +44 (0)7902 214534 E Julia@percent-edge.com