Public parks and Greenspaces
For many of us, our first contact with the natural environment is often through a local greenspace close to where you live.
Greenspace is a combination of a wide variety of types of natural places found in an area. They are found in all areas, from urban to rural. An area’s greenspace includes all the accessible natural places we can visit and enjoy.
Natural greenspaces offer a whole range of opportunities for recreation and enjoyment whether you want a place to meet, play or relax. Well managed multifunctional greenspaces also offer many more benefits for an area and its community - find out more.
Amongst all the types of greenspace, the most natural include:
- National Nature Reserves
- Country Parks – and in particular, look out for Accredited Country Parks
- Local Nature Reserves
Many community managed spaces can be found in cities, towns or villages. Particular examples are Doorstep Greens and Millennium Greens.
Some of the most inspiring greenspaces are found in our National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and along our coasts. Covering mostly rural areas, they serve both the communities within them and communities from wider away in towns and cities. Often, these areas are easily accessible by public transport.
Town parks and playing fields are great places – many also have great natural environment, complementary with more formally managed areas.
The Green Flag Award is the national quality standard for greenspace of all types, highlighting those sites that have demonstrated their management is high quality – look out for the Green Flag when you visit a greenspace near you.
- Find Green Flag Award sites near you
- Find a Country Park near you
- Nature on the Map – find natural greenspaces near you
Select a region
Key links
Greenspace - information for greenspace managers and policy makers
Find Country Parks and Accredited Country Parks
Nature on the Map – find natural greenspaces near you
Find Green Flag Award winning sites near you