Disabled People’s Nature Access Experiences in England
Access barriers and what can be done.
In my opinion, everyone has a right to access nature, and it is wrong to automatically assume that disabled people aren’t interested in accessing nature.
Disabled people’s environmental access rights are something I have been passionate about for a long time, so I chose to research it as part of my degree.
The research included an online snapshot survey with disabled people in England, researching the physical and social barriers that disabled people can face when trying to access landscapes, and analysing the websites of protected landscape authorities in England.
Biggest access barriers
Though in recent years there has been a drive to make protected landscapes more accessible and welcoming for a diverse range of people, my research found that disabled people still experience many forms of exclusion when trying to access these spaces.
Disabled people can not only be prevented from physically accessing landscapes in the first place, but they can also be excluded from landscape management and decision making. Disabled people are also underrepresented within landscape media and websites.
If disabled people are unable to access these spaces and represent the disabled community, then inaccessibility will unfortunately continue.
Responses to my survey revealed that the biggest access barriers were physically navigating landscapes, issues with on-site facilities, and lack of information available (on-site or online).
Access barriers such as these have a really negative impact on disabled people’s quality of life and confidence. This is supported by the Euan’s Guide 2024 Access Survey, with 70% of respondents saying that a lack of disabled access had “directly affected their goals, plans or aspirations” and 78% of respondents sharing that they “are not confident about visiting new places when thinking about accessibility”.
What can be done?
My research shows that the biggest access barriers relate to physically accessing nature. This ties in with the social model of disability whereby people are disabled by societal barriers (such as physical environment).
Though frustrating that these barriers exist, I think it’s encouraging to know there are some tangible changes that could be made to greatly improve nature access for disabled people.
I believe a balance can be found between improving access whilst still preserving nature, and tangible changes could include things such as accessibility information boards and accessibility trails or even upgrading pre-existing infrastructure to include resurfaced paths, accessible toilets, accessible parking and replacing stiles with gates.
Whilst budgets and money are always going to be considerations when thinking about landscape management, I believe that discussions need to be ongoing about improving access, especially as many landscapes in the UK are listed as being “for everyone” (National Parks England, 2025).
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