“We’re simply looking to extend the Countryside & Rights of Way Act so people can actually use it. Currently the public has the right to roam about 8% of land in England. These places are a long way a way from where people live. We’re asking for them to be extended to where the majority of the English public can actually access them; green belt, rivers, woodland and the remaining downland. Criminalising trespass would even further regress the English public’s already scant right to access nature.”

To kick off the second series of Planted Unearthed we spoke to illustrator, author, and environmental activist Nick Hayes, whose recently published book entitled “The Book of Trespass” challenges our understanding of land ownership in the UK while exploring how race, gender and institutionalised inequality all play a part in restricting access to some the UK’s most beautiful landscapes.

Soon the UK’s Parliament will debate a controversial bill proposing to make the act of trespass a criminal offence in England for the first time and Nick is central to a growing movement which last November saw more than 100 artists and actors write to the Government calling for greater access to our countryside and green spaces.

www.righttoroam.org.uk