Fuelled by lockdowns, the health, cost-of-living and energy crises, and the dual climate and nature crisis, there is growing awareness of just how unequal, and important, access to nature is. With just 8% of England and 3% of our rivers \u2018accessible\u2019, many are squeezed out of the too-distant countryside, or into \u2018honeypot\u2019 spots, or along often-restrictive footpaths.<\/p>\n More related content:<\/p>\n \u00a9 Getty<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> And it\u2019s not just the inequality of access but the state we\u2019re in: one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with a perceived divide between town and country, where most children grow up without nature in their lives or know where their food comes from. How can you care about something if you can\u2019t experience it, or know what it is?<\/p>\n A recent, peaceful trespass by Right to Roam founders Guy Shrubsole and Nick Hayes, with Nadia Shaikh (land justice activist), Amy-Jane Beer (scientist and author) and others, revelled in music, dance and costume. The group tripped merrily across the 5,665-hectare estate of Lord Richard Benyon, \u2018access to nature\u2019 minister and former MP for the West Berkshire constituency I live in. He had seemed keen on expanding access to \u201cgreen and blue spaces\u201d through a Government review designed to instigate a \u201cquantum shift in the public\u2019s relationship with nature\u201d. But the review was shelved without explanation.<\/p>\n A Right to Roam Protester at the incredible mass trespass that took place on the the Nature minister Lord Richard Benyon’s huge Englefield (12,000 acre) private estate that contains land that was once common but was absorbed by the enclosures act of 1801. 2022![\""Public\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/22\/2022\/02\/Walkers-and-footpath-sign-63af336.jpg?quality=45&resize=556,556"\" "\\"\"Public\\"\/")
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