New campaign calls for a ‘legal right to local nature’

Posted by Catherine Flitcroft on 21/02/2022
Photo: Shutterstock

Government’s levelling up plans will fail unless they include levelling up access to nature, warn 60+ organisations in a major new cross-sector campaign.

The new ‘Nature For Everyone’ campaign, being led by Wildlife and Countryside Link, brings more than 60 nature, planning, health and equality organisations (including the BMC) together to call for a ‘legal right to nature’ to be a key component of the Government’s Levelling Up reforms.

  • New research finds 85% of people in nature-deprived areas say more natural spaces would improve their quality of life
  • 83% of Brits want greater protections to stop nature loss to development, and 85% say accessible natural spaces should be a much higher priority in new developments.
  • 80% of Brits want a ‘legal right to local nature’, with 83% saying having access to local natural spaces is more important post-pandemic

The calls follow the recent publication of the Levelling Up White Paper, by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Local Communities. The coalition behind the campaign have today launched a petition and written to Secretary of State Michael Gove calling for Government to:

  • make equal access to thriving natural spaces a key measure of success for Levelling Up
  • set legal duties in Levelling Up legislation for developers and public bodies to provide equal access to nature-rich green and blue spaces for everyone
  • provide funding for locally-accessible nature-rich spaces including extending the Levelling Up Fund to green and blue infrastructure projects.

New research from Wildlife and Countryside Link on access to nature, has also been published. This shows: a huge public demand for more and better natural spaces; the massive benefits this could have for our communities (particularly the most deprived and excluded); and the need for national and local leaders to deliver. 

ADD YOUR NAME: to the petition demanding #NatureForEveryone and hold Government to its promises

We need nature everywhere for everyone

We all love getting out and enjoying nature, but do you know just how important nature is to our health? The new Nature For Everyone campaign aims to ensure that everyone, everywhere can access the benefits of nature.

From hearing birdsong, to the crunch of leaves underfoot or the bubbling of a spring, the sights and sounds of nature are scientifically proven to reduce stress and anxiety, and even lower our blood pressure. Just looking at trees from a window has an impact.

The importance of nature to our physical and mental wellbeing has never been clearer than during the pandemic. For those of us with nature near our homes, our natural spaces proved an invaluable respite, and important place for socialising and exercising in lockdown. But the COVID crisis also highlighted the inequalities in access to nature as never before with millions of people unable to access local natural spaces locally.

One in three people don’t have nature near their home, with the poorest communities and people of colour twice as likely to live in nature-deprived areas. Many existing sites are in poor condition or at risk from development. And many are not easily accessible for those with mobility issues or disabilities or those facing wider societal barriers.

This lack of, and deterioration in, our public natural spaces means thousands of communities are missing out on the joys and health benefits of access to nature. A huge local authority funding gap is largely to blame, with an estimated £190 million lost from local authority parks budgets alone since 2016.

That’s why we’ve joined with more than 60 nature, health, planning and equality organisations to demand ‘a legal right to nature’ in upcoming Levelling Up legislation.

We’re asking the government to put a requirement in law for developers and public bodies to provide access to nature-rich green and blue spaces for everyone, and for the government to provide the funding to deliver this.

The Government has promised that its “levelling up” agenda - will create equal opportunity and quality of life for everyone around the country. But this can only succeed if it includes levelling up access to nature.

ADD YOUR NAME: to the petition demanding #NatureForEveryone and hold Government to its promises


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