Countryside to be made ‘less white’ after report finds pubs make ‘Muslims feel unwelcome’
Defra’s new diversity plans aim to reshape the traditional image of the countryside.
The British countryside will be made into a less (Image: Getty)
The British countryside faces being transformed into a less “white environment” with pubs in particular targeted as “unwelcome” towards members of the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities by nationwide diversity plans.
Authorities in rural regions, including the Chilterns and the Cotswolds, have committed to drawing more minorities under schemes devised by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).
The initiatives stem from Defra-commissioned reports that claimed the countryside would become “irrelevant” in a multicultural society, as it was a “white environment” principally enjoyed by the “white middle class.”
National Landscapes – formerly known as areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) – alongside their local councils have since pledged to meet various diversity targets.
Malvern Hills National Landscape said in proposals: “Many minority peoples have no connection to nature in the UK because their parents and their grandparents did not feel safe enough to take them or had other survival preoccupations.”
It added: “While most white English users value the solitude and contemplative activities which the countryside affords, the tendency for ethnic minority people is to prefer social company (family, friends, schools).”
The area will aim to “develop strategies to reach people or communities with protected characteristics such as people without English as a first language.”
North Yorkshire’s Nidderdale National Landscape cautions that ethnic minority communities may encounter access obstacles, with “concerns about how they will be received when visiting an unfamiliar place.”
Its strategy pledges it will “develop more inclusive information to reflect more diverse cultural interpretation of the countryside”.
The Malvern Hills is one of those landscapes highlighted as a ‘white space’ by the report (Image: Getty)
Areas pledge to address barriers
Cranborne Chase National Landscape, which spans Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Somerset, will “reach people or communities with protected characteristics such as people without English as a first language.”
Surrey Hills management has discovered that “some demographics are still under-represented in our countryside”, whilst Suffolk and Essex Coast Heaths have concerns about “some sections of society that are under-represented when looking at the composition of visitors.”
The Suffolk valley of Dedham Vale, birthplace and muse of landscape artist John Constable, has pledged to “identify and seek to address barriers facing under-represented and/or diverse groups which limit equal access to the Dedham Vale National Landscape.”
Report claimed countryside is ‘exclusive club’
A countryside report commissioned by Defra in 2019 was supervised by Julian Glover, author and former board member, reports The Telegraph.
This report stated: “We are all paying for national landscapes through our taxes, and yet sometimes on our visits it has felt as if National Parks are an exclusive, mainly white, mainly middle‑class club.”
It also said: “Many communities in modern Britain feel that these landscapes hold no relevance for them. The countryside is seen by both black, Asian and minority ethnic groups and white people as very much a ‘white’ environment.”
“If that is true today, then the divide is only going to widen as society changes. Our countryside will end up being irrelevant to the country that actually exists.”
One of the report’s key proposals to the Government was: “New long‑term programmes to increase the ethnic diversity of visitors.”
Richard Tice talks to Express on protecting Britain’s countryside
Government-backed ethnic diversity expansion
The then Tory Government responded, saying that it would “expand community engagement, including with reference to increasing the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of visitors”, along with other protected characteristics like disability.
Defra commissioned a second report for £108,000, titled “Improving the ethnic diversity of visitors to England’s protected landscapes”, which in 2022 found that “perceptions of protected landscapes as being for white people and middle-class people could be a powerful barrier for first-generation immigrants.”
The study revealed ethnic minorities link landscape visits with “white culture”, and see “the English countryside as a white space, to which they did not belong.”
One concern was that rural facilities “cater to white English culture”, namely: “Protected landscapes were closely associated with ‘traditional’ pubs, which have limited food options and cater to people who have a drinking culture. Accordingly, Muslims from the Pakistani and Bangladeshi group said this contributed to a feeling of being unwelcome.”
Plans cited across the country
National Landscapes’ management plans nationwide have referenced this report, including those overseeing the Cotswolds, which will review its provision to reach the “widest possible demographic.”
Beyond tackling ethnic disparities amongst those visiting beautiful landscapes, management plans will also aim to enhance disabled access – often by constructing fully accessible paths – and to spark young people’s interest in the great outdoors.
In 2025, the Government unveiled its objectives for countryside access.
A Defra spokesman said at the time: “We will work with Government, public bodies, businesses, civil society and communities to support people engaging with nature in their own ways and encourage them to do this safely and appropriately through continued promotion of the countryside code.”
“We want to equip communities with the resources, knowledge and skills so they can respond to societal and environmental issues in their neighbourhoods.”
