Yahoo Finance Enjoy trail running? Then read more about The Right to Roam campaign
Who can resist the lure of lacing up in the great outdoors? You don't need a degree in ecopsychology to appreciate the dopamine-fuelled rush of trading your treadmill for the countryside or coastline. Just 20 minutes in the great outdoors is proven to significantly lower levels of stress hormones, research published in Frontiers found, making a micro-dose of nature the easiest way to boost your wellbeing during the working day.
The pandemic has only cemented nature's role as an antidote for modern living. Through 18 months of lockdowns and social distancing restrictions, the human need for nature – and the pernicious impacts of its absence – became clearer than ever. With gyms and fitness centres closed, the well-trodden paths of our local parks became integral to the nation's wellbeing.
'Spending time in nature and the great outdoors can have excellent benefits for our mental health,' says Dr Katherine Kennet, of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. 'It helps us to find rest from our worries and can help prevent mental illness, while also aiding people who are either unwell or in recovery. Lockdowns have shown just how important it is to be outside and have access to green spaces, and how difficult it is for people who are unable to do so.'
We have become used to thinking we need to travel to experience nature, largely because so little of the great outdoors is accessible to the public. Just eight per cent of the English countryside is open for people to freely run (or roam) across, leaving the remaining 92 per cent – equivalent to hundreds of thousands of acres of woodland, meadows and rivers – out of reach.
It's an issue Nick Hayes, illustrator and author of The Book of Trespass, and Guy Shrubsole, environmental campaigner and author of Who Owns England?, are working hard to change. Through their Right to Roam campaign, the duo hope to broaden the existing legislation around access rights and, in turn, open up England's countryside to the public. Speaking to Hayes, we discover why the current system is ripe for change – and speak to scientists about the many benefits associated with training on the road less travelled.
What are the current rules?
It mightn't feel like it sometimes, but England is surprisingly green. Just nine per cent of the country has been built upon, with the rest of land comprising countryside, farmland and 'natural spaces' such as forests and grasslands. Despite such a wealth of nature on the nation's collective doorsteps, the vast majority is closed off to its millions of inhabitants. In 2000, the Countryside & Rights of Way (CRoW) Act granted Brits the 'Right to Roam' across a meagre eight per cent of the English countryside.
Since these sites are usually isolated and hard to reach, 'access to land has become a postcode lottery, available to those who live next to it, or who can afford the cost of travel and overnight stays', say the team. 'Everywhere else, not covered by the CRoW Act, the public are actively made to feel unwelcome in our own landscape and have been portrayed for centuries as a threat to the countryside.' Crossing the boundary is considered trespassing.
'Hang on', you're thinking. 'What's Right to Roam?'. A long-standing custom in countries such as Sweden, Norway and Scotland, it grants the public access to land, lakes and rivers, even if they're privately-owned. There are still privacy rules in place to protect landowners, of course – in Sweden, for example, you can't venture within 70 metres of a dwelling or garden. But there's a difference between scaling the fence of someone's back garden and logging a few morning miles on the outskirts of a duke's 13,000-acre estate, and where the Right to Roam allows for this crucial distinction, England's current legislation does not.
Tearing down the barbed wire fence would have a profound effect on our collective experience of – and relationship to – the natural world around us. 'Nature has the capacity to heal us,' says Hayes. 'The science has proven how regular access to nature can improve our mental and physical health, and NHS Forest has estimated that we spend £8.2 billion dealing with our sedentary lifestyles; money that could be saved by allowing people access to the nature on their doorstep – our rivers, woodland and Green Belt.'
Just as important, extending the act could reinvent our relationship with nature, Hayes explains. 'When we lost our right to access the countryside, we also lost our right to defend it,' he says. 'The Right to Roam legislation across Europe codifies the very specific responsibilities we have – not just to the ecology of the land, but to the people who live and work on it.' The more time we spend in the wilds of England, the better equipped we are to interact with the natural world – and the more impassioned we become about protecting it.
'By encouraging people towards nature, we will not only be teaching them the responsibilities we owe to it, not only be fostering a visceral, meaningful love and care for it, but also widen the scope of citizen science or the monitoring of invasive species,' Hayes continues. 'Science relies upon the data that people upload about wildlife diversity, but if we're only allowed access to eight per cent of England, how can we provide accurate data? A greater connection to nature will enable us to protect it in ways that landowners have not.'
What is the Right to Roam campaign proposing?
The team behind the campaign are fighting for the Right to Roam to be extended to include woodlands, all downland, Green Belt land, rivers and river banks, with access rights broadened beyond walking, running and rambling to include activities such as kayaking, swimming and wild camping. If the Green Belts alone were opened up, 30 million people in towns and cities across England would benefit from unprecedented access to the nature on their doorstep.
Increasing our proximity to green space can be life-changing. Spending two hours a week in nature – either all at once or over several visits – appears to be a crucial threshold for health and wellbeing, a large study by the University of Exeter found. People who spent a minimum 120 minutes at woodlands, country parks and beaches were 'significantly more likely' to report good health and higher psychological wellbeing. Any less, and those benefits evaporated.
'We need nature,' says Dr Emma Lawrance, Mental Health Innovation Fellow at the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London. 'Fundamentally, in ways that are often underappreciated and under-celebrated, we depend on balanced natural cycles and the delicate relationships between us and other organisms, earth, air, light and water to sustain life. But not only does nature give us life and sustain us, growing evidence shows that we need a connection with nature for our health and wellbeing.'
Along with greater access rights, the campaigners are lobbying for better promotion of the Countryside Code, which has received less than £1 million in government funding over the last 16 years. These visitor guidelines have been laid out to protect the land, the local community and owners, and include rules such as 'take your litter home – leave no trace of your visit' and 'always keep dogs under control and in sight'. Hayes and friends hope that by improving access to information about how our green spaces should be treated, the public 'can become active custodians of the countryside and benefit its ecology'.
Keen to support the team? Start by signing up for email alerts on righttoroam.org.uk. 'Then set up your own trespass group,' suggests Hayes. 'Recently, 300 people met up on the Sussex Downs to trespass an area of land owned by the council – in other words, the public, but which we are banned from entering. The more people set up trespass groups, the more we can raise the conversation that we have been in desperate need of – how to open up more of the countryside to public access.'
The benefits of running in nature
If the Right to Roam campaign unlocks public access to the English countryside, it could transform your training forever. Ditching tarmac in favour of England's undulating, uneven terrain provides a plethora of well-documented mental and physical advantages. We've picked out the most potent benefits associated with immersing yourself in Mother Nature:
Reduces your risk of serious illnesses
Double down on the benefits of exercise by running in the wild. Exposure to nature reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, premature death, preterm birth, stress, and high blood pressure, the University of East Anglia found.
Boosts your immune system
Dosing up on nature shores up your flu-fighting defences. Not only does your body make more Natural Killer cells – the part of your immune system that reacts to germs – when you're surrounded by trees, but they're more effective too, Japanese researchers discovered.
Fortifies your mental health
Taking a run in rolling fields can help to clear your mind, because nature exposure is proven to reduce rumination. 'Spending time in nature can help people manage symptoms or even recover from mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, and also increase mental wellbeing in the general population,' says Lawrance. 'It can improve mood, sense of vitality, restore our capacity to pay attention and reduce mental fatigue.'
Motivates you to workout
Struggling to stick to your training plan? On days where donning your kit feels a mountain to climb, heading off the beaten track will help you keep up the momentum. Outdoor workouts motivate more than indoor workouts, researchers at the University of Sherbrooke found. You'll enjoy a greater sense of sweat-induced tranquility too, their study concluded.
Recruits more muscles
One of the greatest joys of adventuring offroad? The huge variety of terrain. Whether you're taking to wooded trails or conquering mountains, navigating the challenging mix of grass, soil, bogs, rocks and tree roots will force your body to recruit a greater range of muscle groups, including stabilising muscles in your core, feet and ankles.
Improves your fitness
Running in nature gets you fitter, faster. Whether you're taking to the trail or forging new ground, a long run on unpredictable, hilly terrain builds strength, stamina, power, agility, balance and coordination more effectively than a treadmill.
Makes you more optimistic
Feeling an inherent connection with nature – like you're a part of it, rather than a spectator to it – has been shown to significantly correlate with meaningfulness, happiness and mindfulness. 'People with a stronger connection to nature are more satisfied with their lives, have more positive emotions and higher vitality,' says Lawrance.
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