The British countryside is a “racist colonial” white space, says group representing the National Trust

The Daily Telegraph reports that Wildlife and Countryside Link, a group with 82 charity members including the National Trust, has told MPs in the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Race and Community that the British countryside has been influenced by “racist colonial legacies” which have created an environment some fear is “dominated by white people” and is governed by “white British cultural values”. The report was submitted to MPs who had called for evidence on the links between “systemic racism” and climate change. The report states: “Cultural barriers reflect that in the UK, it is White British cultural values that have been embedded into the design and management of green spaces, and into society’s expectations of how people should be engaging with them.”

It adds that “racist colonial legacies continue to frame nature in the UK as a ‘white space’”, and claims that “the perception that green spaces are dominated by white people can prevent people from ethnic minority backgrounds from using green spaces”.