The coalition came to power boasting it would be the greenest government in history. Yet, as new reports from Wildlife and Countryside Link and Nice reveal, when it comes to the outdoors the coalition is failing to walk the walk. Ed Douglas reports.
See if you can join the dots. Yesterday, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence issued a report that warned a new approach was needed to combat the “silent epidemic” of inactivity affecting the health of people in England. We are the third-least active country in Europe with two-thirds of the population failing to meet some fairly modest activity targets.
Nice called on councils to do more to make walking and cycling an easier option in local communities and suggested that walking routes in cities should also be better highlighted, with signposts indicating the distance and time it takes to walk to local destinations.
Whether or not this is a worthwhile idea, it must have prompted a few sarcastic laughs from council rights-of-way officers around the country. Every local authority in the land is dealing with swingeing cuts, and the rights-of-way network is no exception. Stories of work abandoned, jobs axed and mapping delayed crop up almost every day.
It’s not just at the local level. Natural England, itself up for review, is considering the future of our National Trails, with a view to saving money. These trails are the gold standard in Britain, and ought to be a major part of the tourism offer across the United Kingdom, just as they are in France, where the Grandes Randonnées are such a draw. Instead they face an uncertain future.
The value of the great outdoors to the nation’s economy, and the route it offers to better health, is part of the mission of the Britain on Foot campaign, being spearheaded by the Outdoor Industries Association. Like all industries, it needs the government to help establish the infrastructure it needs to grow.
The government itself has endorsed Britain on Foot. Anna Soubry, minister for health, said at its launch that Britain on Foot campaign should be as well known as Keep Britain Tidy campaign and the Countryside Code. Yesterday in parliament, Defra minister Richard Benyon said that national parks are breathing spaces “of enormous benefit to our society”.
All these things – the nation’s health, biodiversity, our natural heritage and our outdoor businesses are inextricably linked – and yet Wildlife and Countryside Link’s report Nature Check, published yesterday, reviewing the government’s progress on 20 key commitments to the environment, shows that much more needs to be done.
The BMC is one of Link’s supporters and endorses their analysis. The report rightly acknowledges the progress being made on delivering coastal access, albeit slowly. There are positive steps like the introduction of pilot Nature Improvement Areas. But overall, government support for conservation and access is in retreat.
“There has been an increase in the number of people walking, climbing and mountaineering over the past few years,” says BMC access officer Cath Flitcroft, “yet we are today faced with new financial and political challenges which threaten the quality of access to our countryside and our overall recreational experience.
“We have a clear acknowledgement from government that access to our countryside and green spaces has wide-reaching benefits. These include greater recreational opportunities, understanding of the natural environment, better health and a prosperous rural economy. Now we need a proper commitment from government to the future of those organisations that are advocates for the outdoors and recreation”
The savings the government has made in cutting funding to national parks and rights of way are negligible in comparison to the savings it could make from promoting walking and access to the countryside. The government can argue that it can’t afford to invest in rights of way or properly funded national trails. The truth is, it can’t afford not to.
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