Photo courtesy Garrett Dempsey
The global COVID-19 pandemic put many things in perspective. Many of us realized that things we took for granted, like spending time with friends and family or the simple act of going to the grocery store, were more important than we realized. This is especially true for spending time outdoors.
It is well-known that spending time in nature has positive effects on individual physical and mental health. Scientific studies and personal experiences back this up. But 10 months and counting of quarantines, lockdowns, and physical distancing have made it clear that the outdoors are not just a nice thing to have. Regular time spent outdoors is essential not only to individual health and wellness, but to building and maintaining healthy and resilient communities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also made something else even more clear: Access to nature isn’t equitably distributed across communities. Wealthier and white communities (often one and the same) have greater access to parks and green spaces than Black, brown, and lower-income communities minutes away. This was true before the pandemic started, but it has put a spotlight on that inequity — and how it affects children and youth.
While the benefits of spending time outdoors are equal regardless of race or socioeconomic status, accessing those benefits is much easier (and safer) for wealthier and whiter communities.
Children in particular benefit from spending time in nature. Study after study shows this is the case. Children who spend time outdoors see improved health and cognitive function, stronger motor skills, reduced stress, and better social skills. Those positive effects carry over into the classroom, too. Students who spend time outdoors perform better academically and are more enthusiastic about going to school, and that’s true whether a student comes from a higher- or lower-income community.
While the benefits of spending time outdoors are equal regardless of race or socioeconomic status, accessing those benefits is much easier (and safer) for wealthier and whiter communities. While less than 40 percent of white families with children live in “nature-deprived” places, that number skyrockets to 75 percent for families of color. In those communities, the outdoors are either hard to get to or nonexistent, even in the best of times.
For years, Sierra Club’s Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO) program has worked to overcome this “nature gap” by empowering youth from communities with limited access to the outdoors to (re)connect with nature. The lack of parks and non-toxic nearby green spaces is one of the biggest barriers preventing urban children and youth from experiencing the outdoors, but it’s not the only barrier. Years of stereotypes and bias in favor of wealthier white outdoors enthusiasts has created the narrative that, unless you’re a hiking model dressed in gear from head to toe, the outdoors have a big “Do Not Enter” sign on it. But the truth is, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities have always had relationships to the land, the environment, and nature — but have been excluded from these places. That’s where ICO comes in.
ICO and its volunteers work to create safe and inclusive experiences for youth in nature. These experiences include everything from hiking, paddling, biking, and rock climbing, to overnight tent camping, as well as learning about environmental stewardship. And to make it as easy as possible for these children and youth to access the natural world, ICO works to provide gear, transportation, trip fees, and training to ensure that they have opportunities to explore, enjoy, and advocate for nature.
This work is critical. We’re helping to create the next generation of environmental justice and social justice leaders through building community and increasing exposure to outdoor recreation, advocacy, and leadership training. But right now, we’ve had to put that work on pause.
ICO has also had to adapt to the new reality of the coronavirus. When it’s safe, our in-person experiences will begin again, but in the meantime, we’re finding other ways of bringing youth to nature. One way we’re trying is a digital film festival. Over two nights on February 20-21, ICO groups across the country will gather virtually to screen a series of short films that examine youth, diversity, feminism, and other topics, all through the lens of our relationships with the outdoors. Our youth volunteers might not be able to get outdoors right now, but we think these films show that they inherently have a relationship with nature.
The outdoors will still be there for us once the pandemic is over. And we’ll be ready for it once it is.