Families urged to foster love of the natural world with children
Seeta Bhardwa
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Of the 8.1 billion visits made by English adults to nature sites in 2009/2012, only 1.8 billion of these were taken with children
These findings are published in a report by Natural England that analyses visits taken by the English adult population, accompanied by children, to the natural environment. This will be complemented by further research due for release this coming spring, which will examine what specifically motivates children to go outside and enjoy the natural world.
'To play or entertain children’ was cited as a motivating factor for 1.2 billion of the 8.1 billion visits adults took during 2009 to 2012 – an average of 15 per cent of the visits taken each year.
One of the reasons why so few adults take children to nature sites is because the costs are significantly higher, the survey found. The average cost of visits with children was £11.50 compared to an average of £6.60 without them.
The report was commissioned by Natural England and English Heritage and carried out by TNS Global and King’s College London. It examines three years worth of data (March 2009/February 2012) recorded in the ongoing monthly ‘Monitor of Engagement with the Natural environment’ (MENE) survey.
The MENE survey draws on interviews from 45,000 people each year over the three-year period. The report provides evidence on the number of visits by adults accompanied by children, the types of places visited, and the broad motivations for and barriers to these visits.
In the Natural Environment White Paper, published in 2011, the Government set out to increase nature visits, with a particular emphasis on children.
There is a growing amount of evidence which demonstrates the importance of childhood experiences in a natural environment. However recent research shows that children are not playing in green spaces as much.
Penny Wilson from Play Association Tower Hamlets in an essay included in Routledge’s International Journal of Play agrees with this view.
She explores how urban developments, such as the Olympic Park in east London, have placed restrictions on where children can play and claims that there is a difference between older residents’ memories of playing freely and the experiences of children today, who play in enclosed areas.
In order to give some of the children of Tower Hamlets open space, the association has created a park in Mile End with the use of woodlands, paths, mirrors and manufactured artefacts.
- Read a summary of the Natural England report's findings.
