Pinelands Preservation Alliance
Our non-profit organization which focuses on land preservation has begun a project for equity, inclusion, and accessibility entitled “Nature: Access for All.” We and our partners are working towards the advancement of making New Jersey’s outdoor open public spaces more inclusive and accessible to our disabled community.
PPA believes that the mental, physical, and spiritual health benefits we gain from being outdoors in natural settings should be experienced by all who are interested.
One main goal is to work with the disability community to assist land managers at the state, local, and non-profit levels in developing accessible nature trail systems, and other passive outdoor recreation. We are looking to work with the disability community, land management organizations, and volunteer organizations to complete site evaluations and help with development plans and implementation of best practices for inclusion and accessibility designs for natural spaces.
Second, we seek to establish inclusive, accessible land and water-based eco-educational/recreational programs. By working with the community to assist land managers in developing inclusive educational programs. We look to test assistive equipment, and technologies, learn best practices for leading specialized groups on programs, and develop programs. We began this through Pinelands Adventures, based in Shamong, New Jersey. Pinelands Adventures. We recently acquired seven rugged terrain assistive mobility devices (wheelchairs both electric and manual) so we may offer these programs to the residents within the disabled community.
Third, and very important to our effort; we have established a public forum for discussion; to allow individuals with disabilities, their allies, organizations, state, local, private agencies, and land managers to have a productive public dialogue. To put forth concerns, promote ideas, and establish solutions to achieve our goal of making New Jersey’s outdoors more inclusive and accessible to all those who want to enjoy its beauty. All forums are held virtually via Zoom.
Furthermore, we have established an interactive map that is populated with nature sites with detailed information about the features and amenities that are to some degree accessible for persons with disabilities.