England's National Nature Reserves (NNRs) are some of the country's key wildlife sites and provide opportunities to experience wildlife at first hand and to learn more about nature conservation.

Natural England believes that these opportunities should be available to everyone including visitors with physical disabilities or special needs. Accordingly Natural England has adopted the principle of 'Access for All' on its National Nature Reserves.

However, many NNRs, by their very nature, are difficult to access due either to their remoteness or to the ruggedness or fragility of their habitats.

Natural England's partnership with Direct Enquiries Ltd is paving the way for improving accessibility of the countryside for everyone. A new online service provides detailed information about the type of terrain at a National Nature Reserve, photos of parking/drop off facilities and wheelchair access which will enable people to plan for the best possible experience on a day out.

Six NNRs have so far been assessed. The selected NNRs are: Ainsdale Sand Dunes (Merseyside), Aston Rowant (Oxfordshire), Castle Eden Dene (County Durham), Shapwick Heath (Somerset), Stiperstones (Shropshire) and Thursley Heath (Surrey). Results can be seen on Direct Enquiries Ltd’s web site at www.directenquiries.com.

English Nature (now Natural England) was a founder member of the BT Countryside for All National Advisory Committee and worked closely with other members including the Fieldfare Trust to improve standards of accessibility to the countryside.