The image of the typical visitor to the UK’s great national parks – and of the board members who oversee them – is probably still white, middle-class and perhaps a little conventional.
But the Welsh government has made clear its ambition to make Wales’s wildernesses feel more inclusive by swearing in new board members for the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority who will champion the black, Asian and minority-ethnic, LGBTQi+ and disability communities.
In driving rain close to southern Britain’s highest peak, Pen-y-Fan, the new board members described how important nature was to them – and how vital it was to make sure wild places were accessible to all.
Dr Yvonne Howard-Bunt, who becomes the first black female national park authority member to serve in Wales, said: “People from some communities can feel uncomfortable going to rural spaces. I have people asking personal questions that could make me feel like an outsider. They might say: ‘Have you been somewhere like this before?’ or: ‘Where are you from?’ Or if the weather is bad, there’ll be comments like: ‘Oh isn’t this too cold for you?’ It can be uncomfortable.”
Howard-Bunt, a poet and expert in race and ethnic relations who lives in Carmarthenshire, south-west Wales, spoke of how growing up in the 1960s in Yorkshire she found solace in nature. “As a child I was marginalised and isolated. I was made to feel like an outsider because of my skin colour and afro hair.
“To escape when children were mean to me I’d take a bus into the countryside with a sandwich and I’d sit quietly on my own. I’d watch the trees billowing and the water flowing. I’d notice things. I’d part the long grass and see the insects fighting for life and striving for air.”
But she said that not everyone from BAME backgrounds felt that places like the Brecon Beacons were for them. “Visiting nature is not built into everybody’s lives and we need to try to change that.”
The faces on the leaflets and books detailing walks and activities at the national park visitor centre at Libanus near Brecon where the new board members were unveiled told the story – jolly white walkers and cyclists, often in family groups. There is a booklet with “easier access” routes but it was kept behind a desk and visitors needed to request to see it.
Craig Stephenson, an LGBTQ+ campaigner, said: “I haven’t seen anything that draws me in as part of the LGBTQ+ community.” He said he would hope to see the park begin special events for LGBTQ+ history month and international day against homophobia, transphobia and biphobia and possibly fly rainbow flags.
“The imagery is very white, probably middle-class. Our job is to make sure we challenge each other. More diverse membership for the authority means more diverse thought, more inclusive outcomes. Everyone’s tax is paying for these services so everyone should be included.”
Prof John Hunt, a climate change scientist and geologist who had a stroke when he was 42 and is now a disability activist, told how a climb up to the top of Pen-y-Fan as a boy led to his lifelong fascination with science and mountains.
He can longer reach the top of Pen-y-Fan and said that while there were “hotspots” in the park where there was good access for people with disabilities, more needed to be done.
“They tend to be single points rather than exploration routes. So much thought is put into getting round the lived, the urban environment but I feel the importance of outdoor, wild space can be ignored. The last thing we want is to have tarmac paths up mountains. We want them to remain wild places but national parks have a duty to open up more.”
The fourth new board member, Dr Liz Bickerton, a rural development academic who grew up on a south Wales valleys farm, agreed: “It’s a park for all, that’s the point.”
Julie James, the Welsh minister for climate change, said the ambition was to connect more people in Wales with the glories on their doorsteps.
“Large parts of our communities have felt in the past they can’t access the parks,” she said. “We’re trying to diversify the decision-making processes in the parks, appointing people from widely diverse backgrounds. Everybody of every creed, colour, gender and ability has the right to access and help manage our beautiful spaces.”
