More people are taking part in outdoor activities in Scotland
More people are heading for the outdoors in Scotland, according to figures released today.
Walking is the most popular outdoor activity, Scottish Natural Heritage said, and spending on the great outdoors was worth an estimated £2.5bn last year.
SNH, the Government’s advisory body on the outdoors, welcomed a two per cent overall increase in the number of people in Scotland taking part in outdoor leisure or recreation at least once a week. The number rose to 48 per cent in 2010. The figure represents a four per cent increase since 2006.
Walking is the most popular outdoor recreational activity among adults living in Scotland, accounting for 73 per cent of visits for which it was the main activity. Family outings, the main activity on 8 per cent of visits, was next in terms of popularity, followed by cycling or mountain biking, the main activity on 5 per cent of visits.
Last year, SNH launched its ‘Simple pleasures, easily found’ campaign to encourage outdoor visits on people’s doorsteps.
Responding to the news of the increase in outdoors activity, Richard Davison, responsible for SNH’s people and landscapes programme, said: “This is great news. The reasons for the increase will be many and varied but we believe our work on encouraging more people to visit the outdoors and the excellent work being done by local authorities and many others is helping to inspire people to get outdoors.
“Even in towns and cities, people have great opportunities to explore green places near to home and enjoy good local path networks which is why it’s important to look after them.
“Spending time outdoors is fun and very rewarding, and is a great way to improve your health for free.”
Route leaflets for Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Stirling and Dumfries are currently available as part of the ‘Simple pleasures, easily found’ campaign. Leaflets for other areas of Scotland, including Paisley, Johnstone and Renfrew and Dundee will be added shortly.
More details are on the SNH website.
