Official Statistics

The People and Nature Surveys for England: Monthly interim indicators for March 2021 (Experimental Statistics)

Published 12 May 2021

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2021

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/the-people-and-nature-survey-for-england-monthly-interim-indicators-for-march-2021-experimental-statistics/the-people-and-nature-survey-for-england-monthly-interim-indicators-for-march-2021-experimental-statistics

1. Main findings

  • During March, national lockdown restrictions in England started to lift and almost two thirds of the adult population (64%) had visited a green and natural space in the last 14 days. This was consistent with adults who had visited a green and natural space in the last 14 days during February (62%) and January (61%) when national lockdown restrictions were in place.
  • Twenty six per cent of adults had not spent any time in green and natural spaces in the previous 14 days and 12% had not visited any green and natural spaces in the previous month.
  • For adults who did not spend time outdoors in the last 14 days, the top two most reported reasons were ‘Stayed at home to stop coronavirus spreading / Government restrictions’ (39%, down from 51% in January and 44% in February) and ‘Bad / poor weather’ (36%, down from 47% in January and February). ‘Too busy at work / with family commitments’ was the third most frequent reason stated, rising from 7% in February to 15% in March.
  • Forty three per cent of adults said visiting green and natural spaces has been even more important to their wellbeing since coronavirus.
  • Full results for the monthly interim indicators for April 2020 to March 2021 have been published alongside this report.

2. Other pages in this release

The People and Nature Survey for England, led by Natural England, is one of the main sources of data and statistics on how people experience and think about the environment. It began collecting data via an online panel (adults aged 16 years and older) in April 2020, and runs continuously, in line with Government Statistical Service guidance on data collection during the COVID-19 crisis.

The experimental statistics in this publication are based on a survey of 2,097 adult respondents conducted online continuously between 1st - 31st March 2021 (inclusive). Throughout this bulletin, “this month” and “March” refers to this period.

A spreadsheet containing the results for the monthly interim indicators for April 2020 to March 2021 has been published alongside this report, and previous reports for April 2020 to February 2021 can also be viewed.

Further information about the People and Nature Survey for England (including information on methods, strengths and limitations, and Experimental Statistics status) is available. To receive updates on the survey, including data releases and publications, sign-up via the People and Nature User Hub.

Results from this survey for March covered a period of national lockdown in England (1st – 7th March) that required everyone to stay at home except where necessary, and then a period of national restrictions starting to lift (8th March onwards). This page summarises the latest advice on accessing green spaces safely.

3. Experimental statistics

All initial releases from the People and Nature survey will be released as Experimental Statistics. This status highlights to users that these Official Statistics are in the National Statistics testing phase and that Natural England is still working on further developing the methodologies used in their production whilst ensuring adherence to the Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code).

4. Time spent in green and natural spaces

Figure 1 shows the proportion of adults in England who had taken a visit to a green and natural space during the previous fortnight.

Sixty four per cent of adults in England said that they had spent time outside in green and natural spaces in the previous 14 days, which was broadly consistent with October onwards. In March, twenty six per cent of adults had not spent any time in green and natural spaces in the previous 14 days.

Figure 1: The proportion of adults in England (weighted percentage) visiting green and natural spaces since coronavirus restrictions were introduced has overall increased since April 2020. In March, sixty four per cent of adults made a visit to a green and natural space in the previous 14 days. Twenty six per cent of adults had not visited a green and natural space in the previous 14 days.

Visits and no visits in the last 14 days

Figure notes

Source: Q6 / No_Of_Visits: How many times, if at all, did you make this type of visit to green and natural spaces in the last 14 days?
(1) Data collected between April 1st 2020 and March 31st 2021 (inclusive).
(2) The samples for this question were 1,868 (April), 1,898 (May), 1,872 (June), 1,889 (July), 1,856 (August), 1,866 (September), 1,854 (October), 1,869 (November), 1,863 (December), 1,860 (January), 1,868 (February) and 1,900 (March) respondents.
(3) Error bars represent the 95% confidence interval of the mean (see Glossary).

Forty one per cent of the adult population said that they were spending more time outside in March than before COVID-19 (Figure 2), a slight increase in comparison to February (37%). Just over a quarter of adults (28%) reported that they have spent more time noticing nature / wildlife.

Figure 2: In March, forty one per cent of adults said they were spending more time outside than before COVID-19 and 28% said they were noticing nature / wildlife more. Almost a fifth (19%) of adults were connecting more with family and friends outdoors while just over a third (35%) reported exercising more in the outdoors.

Spending time outside, noticing nature/wildlife, exercising outdoors and connecting with family or friends outdoors

Figure notes

Source: QCV2a / CV_Q2A: Since the coronavirus restrictions began, have you increased the amount of time spent on any of the following?
(1) Data collected between May 1st 2020 and March 31st 2021 (inclusive).
(2) The samples for this question were 2,083 (May), 2,083 (June), 2,087 (July), 2,079 (August), 2,082 (September), 2,082 (October), 2,083 (November), 2,083 (December), 2,080 (January) and 2,072 (February) and 2,097 (March) respondents.
(3) Error bars represent the 95% confidence interval of the mean (see Glossary).
(4) Respondents can select more than one option and so percentages will not add up to 100%.

A total of 12% of adults reported that they had not spent any time in green and natural spaces in the previous month (see Figure 3).

For adults that had spent free time outside in green and natural spaces, just over half (52%) had visited an urban green space, 29% had visited woods, 28% had visited the countryside, and 25% had visited rivers, lakes or canals during the last month.

Figure 3: Proportion of adults in England (weighted percentage) visiting different types of green and natural spaces within the last month (April 2020 – March 2021). Urban green spaces have been the most frequently visited across all months. Note that only a subset of types of green and natural spaces have been presented - see the supporting data for all types of green and natural spaces visited during the last month.

Urban green space (park, field or playground), fields/farmland/countryside, woodland or forest, beach/other coastline/sea, nature/wildlife reserve and no visits in the last month

Figure notes

Source: Q2 / M1_Q2: Which of the following type(s) of green and natural spaces have you visited during the last month?
(1) Data collected between April 1st 2020 and March 31st 2021 (inclusive).
(2) The samples for this question were 2,017 (April), 2,015 (May), 2,001 (June), 2,024 (July), 2,009 (August), 2,021 (September), 2,021 (October), 2,022 (November), 1,994 (December), 1,972 (January), 1,957 (February) and 1,964 (March) respondents.
(3) Error bars represent the 95% confidence interval of the mean (see Glossary).
(4) Respondents can select more than one option and so percentages will not add up to 100%.
(5) Only a subset of types of green and natural space have been presented - see the supporting data for all green and natural spaces.

The survey asked adults about their reasons for not spending time in green and natural spaces during the previous 14 days. In March, the top two reasons were ‘Stayed at home to stop coronavirus spreading / Government restrictions’ (39%, down from 51% in January and 44% in February) and ‘Bad / poor weather (36%, down from 47% in January and February). ‘Too busy at work / with family commitments’ was the third most cited reason (15%) up from 7% in February.

Other main reasons reported for not getting out were: ‘poor physical health or illness’ (13%) and ‘being too busy at home’ (13%).

Figure 4: The top two reasons for not spending free time outdoors in the last 14 days (March 2021) were ‘Stayed at home to stop coronavirus spreading / Government restrictions’ (39%, down from 51% in January and 44% in February) and ‘Bad / poor weather’ (36%, down from 47% in January and February). ‘Too busy at work / with family commitments’ was the third most frequent reason stated, rising from 7% in February to 15% in March. Note that only a subset of reasons has been presented - see the supporting data for all reasons.

To stop coronavirus spreading and bad/poor weather

Figure notes

Source: Q27a / M2B_Q2: What was the main reason or reasons for not spending free time outdoors in the last 14 days?
(1) Data collected between April 1st 2020 and March 31st 2021 (inclusive).
(2) The samples for this question were 958 (April), 754 (May), 647 (June), 605 (July), 569 (August), 567 (September), 676 (October), 687 (November), 729 (December), 715 (January), 696 (February) and 694 (March) respondents who reported not spending time outdoors in the last 14 days.
(3) Error bars represent the 95% confidence interval of the mean (see Glossary).
(4) Respondents can select more than one option and so percentages will not add up to 100%.
(5) Only a subset of reasons have been presented - see the supporting data for all reasons.

5. Other results

The accompanying spreadsheet includes monthly results for a number of areas including:

  • Activities undertaken during visits to green and natural spaces;
  • Reasons for not spending time outside;
  • Worries or concerns related to visiting green and natural spaces;
  • The role of green and natural spaces for health and wellbeing;
  • Feelings of nature connection;
  • Importance of gardens;
  • Behaviour changes during the Coronavirus pandemic;
  • Children’s time in nature.

6. Methodological note

See ‘Methods and limitations’ page.

7. Strengths and Limitations

See ‘Methods and limitations’ page.

8. Glossary

Green and natural spaces are defined in this survey as green and blue spaces in towns and cities (e.g. parks, canals); the countryside (e.g. farmland, woodland, hills and rivers); the coast (e.g. beaches, cliffs) and activities in the open sea; visits of any duration (including short trips to the park, dog walking etc.). They do not include: gardens; outside spaces visited as part of someone’s employment; spaces outside the UK. Additional questions are asked about private gardens.

95% confidence interval is a range of values around a calculated statistic (e.g. the mean) that you are 95% certain contains the true value of that statistic. For example, where there is a mean value of 49 with a 95% confidence interval of 2, we would be 95% certain that the true mean of the population was in the range of 47-51 (i.e. 49 -2 and 49 + 2). Please note that the People and Nature Survey uses quota sampling and confidence intervals here were calculated as if the data were generated from a random probability sample.

9. Contact

Natural England welcomes feedback on these monthly indicators, questions and suggestions for analysis for future releases. Please contact the team by email: people_and_nature@naturalengland.org.uk

If you would like to receive further information on the survey, including data releases, publications and survey changes, then visit our User Hub and sign-up to the mailing list at the bottom of the page (best viewed in Google Chrome). After signing up, if you do not receive a confirmation email please check your ‘Junk’ or ‘Spam’ folder.

The Senior Responsible Officer for this publication is Dr Katherine Burgess.

10. Pre-release access

Pre-release access was not sought for this release

Coronavirus – guidance on accessing green spaces safely: Latest government guidance on using green spaces and protecting yourself and others.

Natural England operational update: Coronovirus information on how Natural England is facing the challenges posed by Coronavirus.

People and Nature questionnaire: Includes link to People and Nature Survey questions.

People and Nature Survey information: Further information on the People and Nature Survey for England.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): safer public places - urban centres and green spaces: Guidance for the owners and operators of urban centres and green spaces to help social distancing.

The Countryside Code Statutory guidance on respecting, protecting and enjoying the outdoors.

Back to top