Access to Wildlife

No government has recognised access to nature as a right, yet it can and does deliver benefits to everyone in society.   Now Tony King, head of policy for the Scottish Wildlife Trust, reports in The Guardian that the Scottish Government is considering a rights of children and young people bill that would consider access to nature as being included in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In making a case for making access to nature as a right, King observes...

"Governments can and should articulate a new right: that every child and young person has the right to grow up and live in a high-quality, wildlife-rich environment with ready access to the physical and mental health benefits, developmental advantages, and play opportunities it affords.  There is a growing and compelling body of evidence that regular and ready access to a wildlife-rich environment is essential for children's health and wellbeing.

"Recognising — and acting on — a right to that wildlife-rich world is essential for delivering better health, better educational attainment, and better social development.  Research published in The Lancet shows that, even after other factors are accounted for, living in a green environment makes people healthier.

"One Scottish child in five is overweight and one in ten is obese but we know that access to attractive, nature-rich greenspace increases physical activity and reduces obesity.  Children who live in busy urban areas where there are lots of trees have lower rates of asthma and lower rates of behavioural problems such as ADHD, yet Scotland has no strategy to green those streets that have high levels of air pollution.  Children who spend time playing outside suffer less from short sight later in life than those who don't.  Children who have ready access to the natural environment have better self-esteem, self-confidence, independence, autonomy, and initiative than those who don't.

"Nature is good for people: let's recognise the right of every child to live and grow up in a wildlife-rich world."

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