The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Outdoor Recreation and Access to Nature met in January to discuss ongoing efforts to improve public access to the outdoors.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park was duly elected as the new Vice-Chair following the retirement of Lord Hodgson.

A key focus was the launch of the Sport and Recreation Alliance's Reconomics 3.0 report, which highlights the significant value of outdoor recreation as an accessible solution to public health, environmental sustainability, and social cohesion challenges. 

The report reveals 34m people now use outdoor recreation, an increase of 3.1m in a decade, contributing £22bn to the UK economy and generating one million jobs. 

Furthermore, it estimates a social value of £46.8bn and over £5bn in savings to the NHS.

Discussions centered on translating these findings into genuine policy, with access legislation and the forthcoming Green Paper being crucial. 

Baroness Hayman, Minister at DEFRA, confirmed that work on the Green Paper has begun, allowing time for primary legislation, such as setting a cut-off date for unrecorded Rights of Way (ROW).

Next steps include sending a letter based on the report to Ministers, working with the EFRA committee for an inquiry into the EIP and access to nature, and the Outdoors for All coalition making a concrete case for more support to the Treasury. 

Challenges regarding inequality of access and getting more schools to access nature were also addressed.

Read the minutes from the meeting: