Internal documentation produced for Defra characterises rural England as predominantly white and argues that swift intervention is needed to broaden its appeal.

The initiative stems from government-commissioned research that suggests Britain’s natural heritage risks losing relevance as the nation becomes increasingly multicultural.

| AMAZON

Officials have pledged concrete measures to address what they describe as an imbalance in countryside access, with a number of traditionally British features emerging as problematic points.

For instance, traditional pubs have emerged as a particular point of concern within the research findings. Mr Clarkson runs his own pub near Burford in Oxfordshire.

The government-commissioned study noted that Muslims from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds felt these establishments contributed to a sense of exclusion when visiting rural areas.

Pubs were described as catering primarily to those with a drinking culture, offering limited food options that fail to accommodate visitors from different backgrounds.

| AMAZON

Researchers also recommended that dogs be kept under tighter control in protected landscapes, citing apprehension about the animals among certain communities.

After hearing all of this, Mr Clarkson, who lives in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, and runs a farm as well as a pub in the Cotswolds, let loose.

“Another group of Left-leaning lunatics announced this week that the countryside is racist because there are too many dogs in it,” Mr Clarkson fumed in his latest newspaper column.

He continued: “In what must be the world’s biggest generalisation, they said that Muslims don’t like dogs and that encountering one on a public footpath or in a wood can be very triggering.

“Right, I see, and what am I supposed to do with this information.

“Lock my dogs in a box in the cellar? Shoot them? Sell them to a Korean restaurant?”

He triumphantly signed off in The Sun: “No. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do with it. Absolutely nothing.”

The report didn’t just reserve its criticism for pubs and dogs, as it also drew further distinctions in how different groups experience the countryside.

|

GET

While white English visitors were said to appreciate the solitude and contemplative pursuits, ethnic minority visitors were described as preferring social outings with family, friends, or school groups.

Defra subsequently commissioned a £108,000 study in 2022 examining barriers to ethnic diversity in protected landscapes.

That research concluded that first-generation immigrants frequently perceive these areas as spaces intended for white, middle-class people.

The Malvern Hills National Landscape offered its own assessment: “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.”

| AMAZON

Specific regional commitments have now been outlined across numerous National Landscapes.

In the Chilterns, engagement programmes have been developed to reach Muslim communities in nearby Luton, whilst recruitment efforts will prioritise increasing workforce diversity.

Promotional materials will feature ethnic minority individuals and be translated into various community languages.

Cranborne Chase, stretching across Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Somerset, intends to target communities where English is not the primary language.

Dedham Vale in Suffolk, the landscape immortalised by John Constable, has pledged to identify obstacles facing underrepresented groups.

A Defra spokesman stated: “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.”