How are trends in society impacting on outdoor recreation and tourism

Wendy Thompson, Principal Specialist, Natural England

Natural England

• Created in October 2006 from merger of English Nature, parts of the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service of Defra;

• It is a Non-departmental public body and receives grant in aid from Defra the Government department responsible for the environment, food and rural affairs;

• Employs nearly 2,500 staff across England.

• Key responsibilities:

• Delivering financial incentives to farmers and land managers for environmental stewardship,

• Protecting and improving biodiversity, geology and landscapes,

• Improving opportunities for people to enjoy the natural environment.

Natural England is here to conserve and enhance the natural environment, for its intrinsic value, the well being and enjoyment of people and the economic prosperity that it brings.

Four outcomes to achieve our purpose

Outcome 2

More people enjoying, understanding and acting to improve the natural environment, more often

We do this by

• Providing incentives through the agri-enviro schemes and also lottery funded programmes;

• Working in partnership at national level with Government departments and agencies, at regional level and at the local level down to some community level involvement;

• Using regulatory powers and the legal systems;

• Piloting and testing new ideas and approaches;

• Sharing good practice;

• Influencing through the planning system and other decision making fora;

• Research, monitoring and evaluation.

Spectrum of places and activities

Why do we want more people to enjoy the natural environment?

• To improve understanding and awareness about the importance of the environment and how biodiversity contributes to its future;

• To encourage people to want to act to improve the environment;

• To improve the quality of life for more people through better health and well-being;

• To support the economy through leisure tourism.

Some of the trends

About one third of adults in England have little or no contact with the natural environment and many more only have occasional contact: especially young, ethnic minorities, low incomes.

• Obesity levels have doubled in last 10 years for 6 year olds – and trebled for 15 years olds.

• Obesity costs the national economy £7 billion per year.

• 70% of the population are not active enough to benefit their health. Doubles risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and bowel cancer.

Source: Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, 2002

Rising cases of mental ill health:Reports of emotional and hyperactive problems in children have over doubledfrom 6.4% to 14%Dramatic increase in drugs consumption:Increase in use of anti-depressants and costs to national economy of mental sickness are £23 billion a year.

Declining mental health

The nation’s mental health is in declineOutdoor Recreation can be used as a means of reversing this

trend

Wellbeing

Energy deficit:52% of people agreed ‘I amso tired in the evenings I often don't have the energy to do much’ compared with 46% in 2001

Quality of life:Outdoor recreation contributes to self esteem, reduces anxiety and provides inspiration

The increasing focus on the importance of wellbeing and quality of life

12

31

56

6

37

57

0

10

20

30

40

50

60 Time

Energy

More than I need

Just about the right amount

Less than I need

%

How much or how little of each of these resources you

feel you have at your disposal?

Source: Henley Centre interviews, 2005 A countryside for Health and Wellbeing, CRN, The economic impact of recreation and tourism in the English countryside, Henley Centre, PCC

2004

“The countryside provides people with that vital sense of freedom and escape from the pressures of everyday

life”

“

Convenience culture

People perceive a lack of time in their lives:

57% of people agree: ‘I never seem to have enough time to get things done’

Value of time

40% of people agree ‘I am willing to spend money to save time’

Convenience therefore becomes an important means of making the most of time available

Please indicate how much or how little time you feel you

have at your disposal

12

31

56

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Too much

The right amount

Too little

Source: Henley Centre, PCC 2004

People increasingly value convenience

People are drawn to activities which seem to use their time well

%

More risk averseChildren today are less likely to play outdoors unsupervised than their parents and much more so than their grandparents.

Mostly due to fears of:

• Stranger danger;

• Traffic;

• Accidents and injury;

• Being bullied;

• Getting into trouble with the ‘wrong sort’.

Importance of natural play and the risks of not

• Play is a vital part of a child’s healthy fulfilled development.

• Playing in the natural world helps children develop their cognitive skills of balance, coordination and spatial awareness and encourages children to work constructively together (Maxey 1999)

• Direct experiences with nature help children to make sense of the world. “Knowledge without love will not stick. But if love comes first, knowledge is sure to follow.” John Burrows

Ageing population

Source: UN population revision 2004, John Hayler, Fortune magazine, 2003

5

15

25

35

195019701990201020302050

% of UK population over 65 years of age

People are living longerBy 2011 life expectancy will have increased to 82 for women & 77 for men(from 79.6 and 74.6 in 1997 respectively)

Agelessness, a growing trend

Older generations enjoy activities not traditionally associated with ‘someone of their age’

Catering for a changing demographicGrowing retired population with growing leisure needs, in terms of frequency, intensity and variety

Availability of Information

National Curriculum for Information and Communications Technology:Young people increasingly use technological tools to enable rapid access to ideas and experiences from a wide range of people, communities and cultures. ICT integral to National Curriculum.

Online growth in UK:More and more people are going online in the home, prices are decreasing.

Internet use in the UK:Over 60 per cent of the UK population have internet access. On average they spend 10 hrs a month surfing.

“Leisure and tourism decisions are increasingly researched online” If decisions about outdoor recreation are

being made in the wider context of competing leisure activities, outdoor propositions need to be online as well; even if its just ideas for things to

do…(Impact of outdoor recreation, Henley centre p. 24)

Reducing our Carbon footprint

• Dilemma of promoting use of the natural environment without adding to our carbon footprint;

• Public transport alternatives expensive, infrequent; not convenient;

• Opportunities for walking and cycling are often not good enough;

• People are still wedded to the use of the private motor vehicle – will this change with oil prices?

• Leisure travel only contributes a small amount to the UK’s carbon footprint

Challenge: To shift from a mainly indoor based sedentary and increasingly obese society to an outdoor active society

• Understand behavioural triggers;

• Inspire, excite, motivate;• Promote convenient, easy

to do;• Information – tell them and

tell again, and again;• Market to older generation;• Re-introduce more play for

children, tackle fears;• Remove barriers for those

who struggle;• Provide a range of quality

places that are linked by walking and cycling routes

Health and Wellbeing is a particular new theme:

Choice

Convenience

Communication

Thank you for listening