Charlotte Ditchburn
'We need a personal connection with nature, forged from early years and maintained as part of our daily lives, in order to care.'
Charlotte Ditchburn
Charlotte Ditchburn is a Rights of Way expert & an advocate for access. She believes that access to nature is key to improving our wellbeing and fostering a love of the natural world – and ultimately acting to protect it. She runs the blog Public Rights of Way Explorer.
'Having grown up in the Lake District, I’ve always been surrounded by stunning landscapes and engaged with nature.
This love of the outdoors led me to volunteering with the RSPB, Wildlife Trusts and National Parks. It has helped me develop a career in access and share this passion with others – educating, inspiring and empowering people to take a stand for access to nature.
Getting outside is hugely important for my mental wellbeing, and I've worked to overcome PTSD, anxiety and depression by surrounding myself with nature in the Cumbrian Fells. This experience inspired to share how nature helped to improve my own mental health, and to encourage others to tap into this power.
The coronavirus pandemic presented the challenge of finding spaces close to home to appreciate nature. Throughout the pandemic, I shared top tips and blogs about how to access nature whilst our movements were restricted and loved seeing how people were discovering nature on their doorstep.
Taking a stand for nature is imperative not only for our own benefits gained from being in nature, such as improved mental health and decreased stress levels, but it’s also important for the species we know, love and are yet to discover around us.
With 0nly 8% of the English countryside being open for people to roam freely and with over 49,000 footpaths and many more byways and bridleways not recorded, this is the time to take a stand and fight for our access to nature. As scientist Robert Michael Pyle wrote: “People who care conserve; people who don’t know don’t care. What is the extinction of the condor to a child who has never known the wren?” We need a personal connection with nature, forged from early years and maintained as part of our daily lives, in order to care.
I would like to encourage more people to discover nature, find out how they can access nature and what limits this access. This will enable them to take a stand for nature and their access to it, to improve the situation for themselves and generations to come.'