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| Greenspaces within towns are vital for providing
people regular contact with wildlife. Natural England believes
strongly that: |
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everyday
contact with nature is important for well-being and quality
of life; |
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everyone should be able to
enjoy this contact, in safety, without having to make any special
effort or journey to do so; |
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natural greenspace in towns
and cities can play an important part in helping safeguard our
national treasure of wildlife and geological features; |
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accessible natural greenspaces
give everyone an excellent chance to learn about nature and
to help protect it in practical ways. |
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| Natural England's Urban Greenspace standards provide a set of
benchmarks for ensuring access to places of wildlife interest. These standards recommend that
people living in towns and cities should have: |
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an accessible natural greenspace
less than 300 metres (5 minutes walk) from home; |
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statutory Local Nature Reserves
at a minimum level of one hectare per thousand population; |
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at least one accessible 20
hectare site within two kilometres of home; one accessible 100
hectare site within five kilometres of home; and one accessible
500 hectare site within ten kilometres of home. |
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| In some areas this will be hard to achieve in the short-term, but it should be a long-term aim. |
