A new report by the National Trust has found that more than three-quarters of children want to spend more time in nature, as the conservation charity pushes ministers to ensure youngsters are no more than a 15-minute walk from green spaces.
The survey of 1,000 children aged seven to 14 and 1,000 parents by the trust and the children’s newspaper First News found that nearly two-thirds – 63% – of parents are able to take their children to nature spaces only once a week or less, citing accessibility as the main barrier.
The trust is calling on the government to live up to its previous promise for every person to be 15 minutes away from nature – a target backed by 80% of parents in the survey – by enshrining the access in law.
As part of a series of commitments to level up access to nature, Rishi Sunak said in January 2023 that everyone would live no more than 15 minutes from green space. However, in December that year the Guardian uncovered documents that suggested the government had no intention of meeting the target.
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It is understood Natural England is working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to develop methodology for a new baseline for the 15-minute commitment based on walking routes rather than straight-line distances.
Reacting, Hilary McGrady, the National Trust director general, said that the benefits of ensuring access to nature is plain to see but there is unequal access to it.
“We’d like to see the largest improvement in access to urban green space since the Victorian era,”he said. “We know from our own work as well as the polling around this issue there is huge public appetite to address these issues – it is a real vote winner.
Speaking further, he said “the impact that being in nature has on young people is profound and we need policymakers to stand up and develop a long-term plan to ensure everyone has access to green space. Research shows that if children and young people can engage with nature early in life, they grow up to care about the natural world and are more likely to take action to protect it.”
The trust said that the survey was commissioned to show the disparity in access to green space as well as the public demand for it.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
