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The Outdoor Industries Association (OIA) and the Sport and Recreation Alliance (Alliance) have been asked by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to consult with the outdoor recreation sector on what could be included in a national strategy for outdoor recreation. This builds on recent evidence demonstrating the economic value of outdoor recreation, which provided additional impetus for political lobbying from the sector. The result was cross-party support for a strategy to drive outdoor recreation, by providing clear direction and coordination for the sector.

This report does not provide an in-depth analysis or detailed literature review of this area, but evaluates a selection of recent strategies to help identify learning, best practice and opportunities and from these provides a series of recommendations for national strategy development. There are some strategies included whereby'successes/impacts' are not known, and others where comprehensive information was not available within the public domain. The strategies included in this review represent a good cross-section of related areas including sport, events and tourism, in addition to outdoor recreation.