- Of the 193 members of the United Nations, 164 signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, agreeing to provide access as a right for all people to effectively participate in society, but many fall short when it comes to outdoor spaces.
- Researchers reviewed accessibility features provided by UNESCO Biosphere Reserves for physical, sensory, mental, and cognitive disabilities.
- They found that while more than half of the Reserves provide access for people with some physical disabilities, most do not appear to accommodate sensory, cognitive, or mental disabilities.
Sprawled along the Pacific coastline near San Francisco, Golden Gate National Recreation Area is full of wildflowers, beaches, and old-growth coastal redwoods, shrouded with a thin layer of marine fog that dissipates in sunlight. Visitors fish, hike, camp, and surf, the temperate climate and ocean views providing a boost to their mental and physical health.
While different parts of the recreation area have various accommodations for disabled people, such as wheelchair-accessible visitor centers, the 16% of the world’s population that experience a significant disability today still face many barriers to accessing nature and fully participating in outdoor experiences in natural areas around the world. Only around half of the outdoor spaces reviewed by scientists account for some physical disabilities, and other forms of disability are rarely considered, according to a recent study published in the journal People and Nature.
Researchers reviewed readily available information on disability accommodations at outdoor spaces designated as Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO. They chose these places in particular because the designation comes with a mandate to foster the relationship between people and nature and serve as models for environmental sustainability. Rather than contacting the Reserves or conducting interviews, the researchers tried to replicate the experience of a person with disability searching for information available online.
“I have disability,” said study co-author Sasha Kosanic, a physical geographer at Liverpool John Moores University in the U.K. “For me, when I’m going to nature, this is the first thing I would probably be worried about — how safe I am.”
Among the 167 Biosphere Reserves in 18 European and American countries — including Spain, France, Germany, the United States, and Canada — the researchers reviewed, 43% didn’t have any accessibility measures in place at all.
Of the 96 Reserves that did have some resources available, 88 considered physical disabilities, providing built infrastructure like wheelchair-accessible visitor centers or tools like beach wheelchairs. Just under half had accommodations for sensory disabilities, with resources such as braille visitor guides and apps that use camera-assisted AI and GPS to provide turn-by-turn directions for visually impaired people on hikes. Only 21 Reserves provided resources, such as trained staff, for intellectual and developmental disabilities, and 19 had accommodations for mental disabilities.
“Reserves that are meant to connect people with nature are not prepared to do so for those who have one or more disabilities,” said co-author Berta Martín-López, a sustainability scientist at Leuphana University of Lüneberg in Germany.
Without accommodations provided, people are left to fill the gap on their own. Syren Nagakyrie, who was not involved in the study, makes hikers’ guides for people with disabilities as part of their nonprofit Disabled Hikers. “There’s this idea that wilderness needs to be untouched and untrammeled, and it’s only for people who can physically get out there,” Nagakyrie said.
While 164 of the 193 members of the United Nations have signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities — agreeing to non-discrimination and full, effective inclusion in society — and 156 agreed to a right to a healthy environment, the new research shows that people with disabilities may encounter barriers to enjoying the full benefits of shared outdoor space. The study builds on previous research by two of the authors that found that people with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by climate change and are exposed more to illnesses and sexual violence during environmental disaster.
But there are bright spots highlighted in the report. France’s Cévennes National Park has an 80-kilometer-long (50-mile) hike with voice-guided GPS and provides an experienced mountain guide for the visually impaired. The Schwäbische Alb mountain range in Germany offers group hikes for those who don’t want to be alone in nature. Spain’s Babia Biosphere Reserve also includes people with disabilities when creating plans for accessibility, a rare example of procedural justice.
Beach wheelchairs provided by Point Reyes National Seashore Association, a group that manages the northern part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California, United States. Image credit: PRNA / Zoe Duerksen-Salm.
Albert Chern is a graduate student in the Science Communication M.S. Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Other Mongabay stories produced by UCSC students can be found here.
Citation: Winkler, K., Kosanic, A., Martín-López, B. (2025). Disabling Barriers—Coping with accessibility of nature in Biosphere Reserves. People and Nature, 7(7). https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70046
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