Delivering subject content through nine life themes
Children want to spend more time in nature, according to a new survey published by the National Trust and First News. The two organisations are launching a nature photography competition for children, Nature Around Me, to encourage young people to notice and engage with everyday nature around them – no matter where they live. The National Trust has also called on the government to make it law to be no more than a fifteen-minute walk away from nature, referring to a commitment first made by the prime minister in January 2023 at the launch of the government’s Environmental Protection Plan.
The survey was commissioned by First News and the National Trust to show the disparity in access to green and blue space as well as the public demand for better access. According to the National Trust, government data shows that 38% of the country live more than a fifteen-minute walk from a green or blue space.
Key findings of the survey were:
The survey involved 1,000 children aged seven to fourteen and 1,000 parents. First News is a children’s newspaper.
The Nature Around Me photography competition is open to children aged seven to fifteen. Photos can be black and white or colour, portrait or landscape and can be taken on a phone, camera or tablet. The winner will get a two-night stay in a barn in Norfolk for up to six people and a trip to see the seals at Blakeney Nature Reserve. Two runners-up will receive a £250 National Trust holiday voucher, and all winners will get a bird box camera system for their school and a First News subscription. The closing data for entries is Sunday 28 April.
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.
Hilary McGrady, director general of the National Trust
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.
The impact that being in nature has on young people is profound and we need policy makers 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 prime minister Rishi Sunak said in January 2023 that the government’s new Environmental Improvement Plan “provides the blueprint for how we deliver our commitment to leave our environment in a better state than we found it, making sure we drive forward progress with renewed ambition and achieve our target of not just halting, but reversing the decline of nature”.
The tenth goal of the ten-goal plan is to enhance beauty, heritage, and engagement with the natural environment. It promises to work “across government to fulfil a new and ambitious commitment that everyone should live within 15 minutes [sic] walk of a green or blue space”.
The then secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, Therese Coffey, said: “I am particularly pleased by our pledge in this plan to bring access to a green or blue space within fifteen minutes’ walk of everyone’s homes – whether that be through parks, canals, rivers, countryside or coast.”
Image at the head of this article by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay.
