Countries such as Norway, Sweden, Estonia and Scotland already have a common right to roam that’s enshrined in law, giving them the freedom to wander the countryside, regardless of whether it is publicly or privately owned
The right to roam comes along with responsibilities toward the community and ecology of the area. This includes codes of behaviour designed to protect the environment and not interrupt functional useage of the land. Children in these countries grow up with the knowledge and understanding of nature, and how humans should interact with the natural environment.
The right to roam gives people a connection with and immersion in nature. They can approach it with knowledge and respect, rather than as outsiders who do not feel they have a stake in its future.
As well as the environment, our health is also suffering from lack of access to green spaces, with a mental health crisis as well as obesity-related health problems. Access to green space has become a privilege, with working class people and BPOC (black and people of colour) communities disproportionately affected by a lack of access.
In the UK, 92% of the countryside has no right to roam, and 97% of rivers have no uncontested rights of navigation. We can only roam in 8% of our countryside without trespassing.
The Right to Roam organisation are a group of people campaigning for a change in land access law and hoping to create a system similar to Scotland and Scandinavia, and expand the CRoW act (Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000) to ensure equal access to the countryside.
They are a countercultural movement of campaigners, writers, artists, ecologists, ramblers, wild-swimmers, paddle-boarders, kayakers, wild campers and nature-connectors. They are organising protests and mass trespasses onto access islands (open access land that is completely surrounded by private land, leaving the public with no legal means to access the land without trespassing)
