Rural officials across England have signed up to a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs initiative aimed at reducing the dominance of white visitors in the British countryside through diversity targets and engagement programmes.
Protected landscapes including the Chilterns, Cotswolds and Malvern Hills have adopted measures designed to attract ethnic minority visitors to areas described in internal reports as largely “white environments” traditionally dominated by middle-class Britons.
The coordinated push follows government-commissioned research warning that Britain’s natural heritage risks irrelevance as the nation becomes increasingly multicultural. A 2019 report overseen by Julian Glover cautioned: “Our countryside will end up being irrelevant to the country that actually exists.”
The report stated that national landscapes could feel exclusionary, noting: “We are all paying for national landscapes through our taxes, and yet sometimes on our visits it has felt as if National Parks are an exclusive, mainly white, mainly middle class club.”
Defra commissioned a £108,000 study in 2022 examining barriers preventing ethnic minority groups from accessing rural areas. The research, titled “Improving the ethnic diversity of visitors to England’s protected landscapes”, identified traditional country pubs as causing concern.
The report noted: “Muslims from the Pakistani and Bangladeshi group said this contributed to a feeling of being unwelcome.” First-generation immigrants were found to perceive protected areas as spaces designed for white, middle-class people.
Research recommendations included stricter dog control measures, citing fears of animals among some communities as a practical deterrent to countryside visits.
Regional implementations vary across participating authorities. The Chilterns has developed engagement programmes specifically targeting Muslim communities in Luton, with recruitment drives prioritising workforce diversity. Promotional materials will feature ethnic minority individuals and be translated into multiple community languages.
The Malvern Hills National Landscape stated: “Many minority peoples have no connection to nature in the UK because their parents and their grandparents did not feel safe enough to take them or had other survival preoccupations.”
The organisation also highlighted cultural differences, noting that “while most white English users value the solitude and contemplative activities which the countryside affords, the tendency for ethnic minority people is to prefer social company (family, friends, schools).”
Nidderdale National Landscape in North Yorkshire acknowledged ethnic minority visitors may have concerns about reception and pledged to provide more inclusive information reflecting different cultural interpretations of countryside spaces.
Cranborne Chase, spanning four southern counties, plans to target communities where English is not a first language. Dedham Vale in Suffolk has committed to identifying barriers faced by under-represented groups.
Last year, a Defra spokesman outlined the Government’s vision, stating the department would work with various bodies to support people engaging with nature in their own ways whilst promoting safe countryside use through the countryside code.
The spokesman said the aim is to “equip communities with the resources, knowledge and skills so they can respond to societal and environmental issues in their neighbourhoods.”
National Landscapes and partner councils continue implementing diversity measures across England’s protected rural areas.
