Farmers will be key to plan to restore England’s green spaces and wildlife

Farmers in England will be able to receive funding for actions that protect the environment, the government announced in January. Photograph: Peter Flude

It has taken years of campaigns and mass trespasses for the government to put access to green space in England at the top of its agenda, as it has today in the environmental improvement plan.

During the pandemic, the importance of nature for our physical and mental wellbeing became ever more apparent – as did the inequality in access, with the poorest in society less able to access green space.