Right to roam

The freedom to roam, or everyman's right, is the general public's right to access certain public or privately owned land for recreation and exercise. The right is sometimes called the right of public access to the wilderness or the right to roam.

In Scotland, the Nordic countries of Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and the Central European countries of Austria, Czech Republic and Switzerland, the freedom to roam takes the form of general public rights which are sometimes codified in law. The access is ancient in parts of Northern Europe and has been regarded as sufficiently basic that it was not formalised in law until modern times. However, the right usually does not include any substantial economic exploitation, such as hunting or logging, or disruptive activities, such as making fires and driving offroad vehicles.

Article 13 of Section I of the Constitution of Belarus guarantees that all forest and farm land is publicly owned. Forty percent of the country's territory is covered by forest, and approximately the same amount devoted to agriculture.

According to the Forest Code (Article 13) "citizens have the right to freely stay in the forest and collect wild fruits, berries, nuts, mushrooms, other food, forest resources and medicinal plants to meet their own needs."

Many landowners in the United Kingdom have, in the past, strongly defended their property rights. Even uncultivated and unenclosed land was formerly heavily protected in some areas, mostly to preserve the land owner's hunting or fishing rights. This in turn left the general public with little access to natural areas. Even such popular sites as Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill in the Peak District – although of very little economic interest to the owner – had been out of access to the public, until the enactment of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. The Ramblers' Association works to increase the rights of walkers in the United Kingdom and has been a driving force behind the recent legislation increasing the public's access to the wilderness.

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Wikipedia