Welcome to Black History Month—an important period to reflect on the past, celebrate how far we’ve come, and contemplate actions we can take to create a more beautiful and just future for Black folks and families. 

Unfortunately, the enduring nature equity gap is both real and pronounced. In 2018, researchers at the National Park Service Visitors Services Project collected data indicating that only 2 percent of national park visitors were Black. Clearly, we still have a long way to go when it comes to creating safe spaces for Black people in the outdoors. Which is why this February, our objective is to celebrate, normalize, promote, and hold space for Black people and Black families in nature. 

Whether in national parks, state parks, local creeks, or urban-area pocket parks, evidence that it’s possible to create opportunities for Black families to comfortably and safely rest, recharge, and recreate—and thus promote equity in the great outdoors—abounds. 

The pandemic spurred significant interest in experiencing natural spaces; national parks nationwide saw record attendance. It’s high time to devise more opportunities for Black adventurers and families to enjoy positive, consistent, and meaningful interactions with nature. Here are five specific steps that individuals, stakeholders, and organizations can take to make that happen.

1. Innovate flexible transportation options to accommodate people who don't have cars—and for large groups of co-adventurers.

Because of the considerable history of and ongoing violence toward Black individuals, much of which tends to occur in isolated areas in nature, many people of color may prefer to visit natural spaces in large groups. But because of group size, among other reasons, some may not have sufficient access to personal vehicles. Creating flexible and accessible transportation solutions for Black families in public spaces is thus an important step toward outdoors equity. 

Over the past decade, the National Park Service has piloted several inventive solutions. Micromobility—which encompasses shared or private electric scooters, bike shares, and other small, lightweight, wheeled conveyances—has taken off as a mode of quick and easy travel at NPS sites including the National Mall in Washington, DC, and the California Bay Area’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Members of large groups often find shared electric scooters affordable, easy to find and operate, and a fun way to travel together. NPS is currently piloting e-scooter, and other designated micromobility routes, at other NPS sites.

In other promising news, the National Park Service implemented electric automated shuttle pilots at several sites, including Yellowstone National Park, in 2021. This new technology allows large groups and individuals without personal vehicles to inexpensively access these natural spaces while remaining with their group. 

2. Create and normalize affordable housing and camping options on—and in areas surrounding—public lands.

Undoubtedly, countless people would be eager to visit more national parks and public lands if doing so were not so cost-prohibitive. For many Black folks and families in particular, those costs can be insurmountable. Creating more affordable options for recreating and camping on public lands is an excellent way to help Black families not only get outdoors but also return with more regularity.

And, it can be done! In 2014 for instance, students working toward their master's in architecture at Cal Poly Pomona set out to design a cabin that would help generate and accommodate interest among less typical campers; mainly, the global majority (i.e. people of color) and younger people. The result was the Wedge Cabin. 

Constructed from recycled materials, the Wedge is a 156-square-foot structure that fits a double bed and a bunk bed. The model so piqued California State Parks and the California Coastal Commission that they licensed the design and used it to implement low-cost and eco-friendly camping options that could attract a wider range of Californians to the great outdoors and inspire long-term relationships with nature.

3. Create opportunities for Black students to have positive, consistent, and meaningful interactions with nature.

It’s important to create opportunities for youths from communities with limited access to the outdoors—and Black communities typically land on this side of the nature equity gap. The Sierra Club’s Inspiring Connections Outdoors program aims to empower youths and develop a widely representative next generation of environmental and social justice leaders by building community, increasing youths’ exposure to outdoor recreation, advocacy, and leadership training. 

Happily, there are several similarly great organizations to tap into. Take Baltimore-based Backyard Basecamp, which works to help introduce young BIPOC kids to nature and nurture that relationship over the long haul. 

Backyard Basecamp was founded by Atiya Wells, a pediatric nurse with a passion to introduce, educate, and connect families in Baltimore, especially people of color, to local outdoor spaces. Her inspiration? The fact that, while engaging with the natural world, she often noticed she could count the number of BIPOC folks in the room on one hand.

Backyard Basecamp is now a vibrant nonprofit that on-ramps BIPOC folks to nature via simple nature walks in local neighborhoods, and eventually involves journeying into wild spaces across and surrounding Baltimore. Backyard Basecamp holds programs for people of all ages, including children and families, to help Black people find community and connection in natural spaces. 

4. Create cultural momentum, and space, through imagery and social media. 

Social media is a powerful tool—and for too long, an overemphasis on imagery of white people (usually white men) recreating outdoors promoted a false narrative about who belongs in our public spaces and also perpetuated the “nature is not for us” stigma that pervades in Black and other underrepresented communities. Conversely, getting to see people of different backgrounds revel in outdoor joy helps to erode implicit biases and can strengthen Black adventurers’ sense of community. 

It’s why organizations and influencers have been flocking to Instagram and TikTok to showcase BIPOC adventurers enjoying the outdoors. Take accounts like @OutdoorAfro, @GirlTrek, @brandihikes, and @MelaninBasecamp, founded in 2016 by Black skydiver, hiker, and army veteran Danielle Williams. 

Harnessing the power of images, hashtags, and other forms of content, Williams’s objective was to increase BIPOC representation in the media, advertising, and “the stories that we tell about ourselves.” Melanin Basecamp’s hashtag #diversifyoutdoors has been used more than 142,000 times in the past few years. As more people see Black people and Black families in nature, that has the power to change cultural norms and help additional Black nature-seekers understand that they belong in natural spaces as much as anyone else. 

5. Harness the people power of a “corps.”

The United States has a robust tradition of volunteerism and service—like Teach for America, Americorps, and the Peace Corps. These programs and others like them were created by the federal government or nonprofit organizations to address specific needs in our local communities and beyond. 

Harnessing the power of a corps of eager and able volunteers yields so much change-making power. One such corps was just created by the National Parks Foundation in 2021. The Leaders of Color crew was designed to promote leadership development in the environmental field for members of BIPOC communities. 

This initiative supports three public spaces: Great Sand Dunes National Park, Aztec Ruins National Monument, and Mesa Verde National Park. Leaders of Color crew members manage backlogged trails work and invasive species removal, foster career pathways in the National Park Service, and bring their much-needed presence to our public lands. After all, the sight of fellow people of color can go a long way when it comes to helping Black visitors feel comfortable, safe, and welcome in the parks. 

How are you promoting belonging and rest for Black families in the outdoors this Black History Month?