A new poll has revealed that half of UK adults now spend less than three hours a week in natural settings such as gardens, parks, fields, or woods, with one in ten spending less than an hour. This contrasts sharply with their childhood memories, where almost two-thirds said they spent more than half their free time outdoors.
Childhood Memories of Outdoor Play
The survey, conducted by the Wildlife Trusts among 2,000 people, found that nearly 90% of UK adults have overwhelmingly positive memories of playing outside as children. These memories include climbing trees, squelching in mud, paddling in ponds, and making dens in the woods, often described as exciting and liberating. Even those who recalled falling in cowpats had fond recollections.
However, the poll highlights a significant decline in time spent in nature among adults. Two-thirds of respondents said that thinking about their childhood memories made them more likely to reconnect with nature.
Health Benefits of Nature
Spending time in nature is known to significantly benefit physical and mental health. Previous research has shown that regular access to green spaces reduces GP visits by 28% and could save the NHS £2 billion a year. The government has committed to ensuring everyone has access to a green space within a 15-minute walk of their home, but one in five households currently do not, with access even worse in deprived areas.
Dom Higgins, head of health and education at the Wildlife Trusts, said: "Being outdoors in nature has so much joy to offer us all – fresh air, sunlight, birdsong and so many proven health benefits. So it was hard not to be alarmed by the number of people who spend so little time outdoors, but we need to factor in that not everyone has easy access to natural environments."
Urban Green Spaces and Council Budgets
Higgins noted that town parks featured strongly in happy childhood memories, which he described as "incredibly reassuring, as our precious urban green spaces can offer both access to nature and a strong sense of community and belonging." However, spending on parks has plunged in the past decade as council budgets have been stretched.
Julie Jones-Evans, chair of the Local Government Association's culture, tourism and sport committee, said parks and green spaces were vital to local communities but faced financial pressure due to rising demand for legally required services such as social care and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities. "This leaves discretionary services such as parks vulnerable and demonstrates why it is important councils are supported by sufficient and sustainable funding to protect these important services," she said.
Initiatives to Reconnect with Nature
The Wildlife Trusts' 30 Days Wild challenge has been taken up by 3 million people in the past decade, with the charity providing free guides and children's activity packs this year featuring the TV character Bing. Higgins urged people to "spend a few minutes recalling a childhood memory of being outside and then to venture outdoors and experience nature once more. Taking a moment to rewild yourself can be as simple as stopping for a few deep breaths at your local park or lying on the ground looking up through the trees to the birds above."
A 2024 poll for the National Trust found that more than three-quarters of children said they wanted to spend more time in nature, but two-thirds of parents could take their children to nature spaces only once a week or less, with accessibility the main barrier. A 2016 poll suggested that three-quarters of UK children spent less time outside than people in prison.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "This government is making sure that everyone across the country has access to nature. Wherever you live, it is introducing or improving green spaces." Three new national forests were planned, with the first stretching from the Cotswolds to the Mendips, as well as nine new national river walks, one in each region of England.
