4 Who? A profile of people that do and don’t visit 4.1
This section provides a profile of people that do and don‟t visit the natural environment. It focuses on differences by age, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic group.
Headline results in this section
The proportion of the total population taking visits in the last seven days decreased,
from 43 per cent to 39 per cent between 2009/10 and 2010/11. The largest decreases were recorded amongst those aged 16-24, people in the DE socio-economic group, and those from the BME population. The population groups with the largest proportions taking visits to the natural environment included people aged between 45 and 64, those in employment, and those in the ABC1 socio-economic groups. Levels of participation were significantly lower than the overall population averages amongst the 65 and over groups, the BME population and members of the DE socioeconomic groups.
Participation in visits in the last 12 months 4.2
The English population can be divided into three broad groups according to their level of participation:
Frequent visitors – those who state that on average they normally take visits to the
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natural environment at least once a week (53 per cent or around 22 million adults). Infrequent visitors – those who state that on average they normally visit once or twice a month or less often (37 per cent or around 16 million adults). Non-participants – those who state that they have not visited the natural environment in the last 12 months (9 per cent or around 4 million adults).