Rural officials across England have signed up to plans aimed at making the British countryside more ethnically diverse, under a wide-ranging initiative coordinated by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Protected landscapes across the country, including the Chilterns, Cotswolds and Malvern Hills, have adopted diversity targets designed to attract more ethnic minority visitors to areas traditionally dominated by “white middle class” Britons.

The push follows Defra-commissioned research warning that Britain’s natural heritage risks becoming “irrelevant” as the country grows increasingly multicultural.

Internal reports described rural England as a largely “white environment” and urged urgent action to broaden its appeal.

National Landscapes – formerly known as areas of outstanding natural beauty – and their partner councils have now committed to concrete measures to address what officials describe as an imbalance.

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One recommendation suggests dogs should be kept under stricter control, citing fears of the animals among some communities.

The Malvern Hills National Landscape said: “Many minority peoples have no connection to nature in the UK because their parents and their grandparents did not feel safe enough to take them or had other survival preoccupations.”

It added: “While most white English users value the solitude and contemplative activities which the countryside affords, the tendency for ethnic minority people is to prefer social company (family, friends, schools).”

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Traditional pubs were identified as a particular concern, with the report noting: “Muslims from the Pakistani and Bangladeshi group said this contributed to a feeling of being unwelcome.”

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