Roam the Rivers: A Wild Proposal for a Wilder England
🌊 The Problem
England is in trouble.
Rivers are polluted. Nature is fragmented. Millions feel shut out from green spaces. And the simple joy of walking beside a stream, skipping stones, or dipping toes in wild water has become, for many, an inaccessible luxury.
We are facing overlapping crises: collapsing biodiversity, rising mental health issues, climate change, and social inequality in access to nature. And yet, running like silver threads through our countryside are the rivers—hidden, hemmed in, and out of bounds.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
🌿 A Story of What Could Be
Imagine wandering freely along a riverbank near your home.
No tarmac. No fencing. No “PRIVATE PROPERTY” signs yelling you away. Just the sound of water, birds in the trees, and paths formed by curious feet.
“Roam the Rivers” is a simple but bold idea: open up access along England’s rivers, and rewild the space around them. Let nature and people return, together.
It starts with 50 metres of wild on each riverbank.
A corridor of trees, hedgerows, and informal paths—not paved trails, but places to explore. Walk, paddle, rest. Let children climb trees and watch herons fish. Let citizens steward their stretch of river. Let nature return.
✅ The Solution
-
A new Right to Roam: 50m of access on both banks of rivers at least 5m wide.
-
Rewilding: Let trees grow, or plant them where needed.
-
Eligibility: Only on farmland receiving public money—public goods for public money.
-
Voluntary opt-in for sensitive or non-farmland areas.
-
No concrete, no bulldozers—just nature and informal desire lines.
This simple idea answers many challenges at once:
-
For wildlife: creates corridors for species to thrive.
-
For rivers: improves water quality, stabilises banks, and reduces flooding.
-
For people: opens up thousands of miles of new green access.
-
For mental health: more time in nature = healthier, happier lives.
-
For farmers: turns marginal land into rewilded value.
-
For schools and communities: local stewardship, learning, and pride.
⚖️ But What About…
Yes, landowners will object. Some access will be patchy. Not everyone will behave well.
But…
We already have public footpaths and National Parks.
We already have subsidies for land management.
We already face climate targets, biodiversity collapse, and a generation growing up indoors.
The alternative is more of the same: closed gates, degraded rivers, and more “NO ENTRY” signs in a world that desperately needs reconnection.
This is a stepping stone towards wider access to the countryside, not the end goal. It is a way to get more people connected with nature, learning to care for it and treat it better. It earns money for landowners, increases their biodiversity, and cleans and protects the rivers on their land.
🌍 A Wild Ribbon of Hope
This isn’t a radical revolution. It’s a reconnection.
A common-sense next step in how we care for land, water, wildlife—and one another.
Roam the Rivers is a chance to turn public money into public good.
To thread green hope through the countryside.
To bring life back to our landscapes—and to ourselves.
🗣 Let’s start now.
🌱 Call to Action
If this vision speaks to you—share it.
Tell a friend. Write to your MP. Walk your local river and imagine it wilder.
The rivers are already there.
We just need to Roam them.
📖 Quote to Close
“Any path can become the Path if attended to with care, without preconception, informed by knowledge, and open to surprise.” – Chet Raymo
I’ve written a more comprehensive plan in this PDF. Please feel to use it however you wish – steal the good bits, ignore the rubbish bits, do whatever you see fit in order to help rewild our rivers!
