Giving ramblers free rein over the countryside will harm wildlife, warns nature chief

EXTENDING the right to roam could harm birds and other wildlife, the head of Natural England has warned, amid a debate over countryside access.

Tony Juniper, chairman of the government advisory body, said too much disturbance from hikers and dog walkers was already putting pressure on some key species, including at-risk populations of the ground-nesting curlew.

“One of the things that I have noticed in my work at Natural England is the profound effects that can come from too much disturbance,” he said.

“I don’t think that we would be able to support, at Natural England, the right to roam everywhere, by everyone all the time, because of that impact on nature and the way in which it would impact on nature recovery targets.”

Later this month, MPs will debate extending public access to the English countryside, after a bill was tabled by Caroline Lucas of the Green Party.

The bill calls for extending rights of way, which currently cover only 8 per cent of English land and 3 per cent of rivers in England and Wales.

Mr Juniper, who was a long time environmental campaigner before he took over at Natural England, said improving access to the natural world, especially for black and ethnic minority groups, was “vital”. But he said this could be improved by introducing more green areas around towns and cities, and warned that automatically extending access could have hidden risks.

“Having a right to roam that is bringing more people into more remote areas, recognising that the remote, quiet areas are fewer and fewer, raises some really quite big tensions,” he said.

“We’ve got tens of thousands of miles of footpath in England. We’ve got wonderful nature reserves, we’ve got fantastic long distance trails. We’re just working on the English coast path now, which is going to be a 2,800 mile path on the whole of the English coast – I think that would exhaust most people’s desire to roam, walking the length of that.”

Jon Moses, an organiser for the Right to Roam campaign, said environmental impact could be mitigated “by proper legislation and meaningful education”.

“Our Right to Roam Bill does not call for unfettered access,” he said. “Rather, it would provide a right of responsible access to woodland, greenbelt, downland and rivers, amounting to approximately 30 per cent of the country.”

Mr Juniper was speaking ahead of a speech he will give today in which he will argue that protecting nature is vital for the economy. It comes amid fears that the Government is seeking to roll back environmental regulations by eliminating EU rules and removing planning restrictions in new investment zones.