Fact Sheet: The Nature Gap: Communities of Color and Those With Low Incomes Are Bearing the Brunt of America’s Nature Loss

Nature is more than awe-inspiring scenery; it serves as infrastructure to support healthy, thriving communities. Every American should have the right to readily access its benefits. Access to nature and time spent outdoors provide measurable health benefits across virtually every dimension of well-being. In contrast, nature loss translates directly into lives shortened and lost. It means sicker lives for those trapped in landscapes stripped of the life-sustaining benefits that nature provides. Communities without nearby nature are more vulnerable to extreme weather and climate change, experience worse health outcomes across nearly every measure, and leave the next generation with a diminished inheritance of health and a greater gap in its innate connection to nature.

A new analysis from the Center for American Progress, Justice Outside, and Conservation Science Partners provides an updated look at who bears the brunt of nature loss by taking a deeper dive into understanding the nationwide problem. The analysis finds that across the continental United States, there are three times more communities of color living in nature-deprived areas than white communities, and three-quarters of those living in nature-deprived places have low household incomes. This new analysis uses the latest available data and a new metric to measure both the distribution and severity of humans’ impact on the environment and how nature loss is connected to racial disparities, social vulnerabilities, public health issues, pollution, and climate risks across the contiguous United States.

The nature gap is not experienced equally across all communities; those with limited access to nature also often face the greatest exposure to pollution sources and climate risks. However, across the country—from Seattle to Albuquerque to the Carolina coasts—there are local organizations dedicated to confronting the nature gap and its causes and effects in their communities. A new report from CAP, Conservation Science Partners, and Justice Outside highlights bright spots and firsthand lessons learned from communities striving to close the nature gap.

Racial disparities in nature loss

This new analysis found that nationwide, communities of color comprise 74 percent of those living in nature-deprived places, with white communities making up the other 26 percent. This means that across the United States, there are three times more communities of color living in nature-deprived areas than white communities. Of the communities of color living in nature-deprived places, 55 percent are Black, 54 percent are Latino, 44 percent are Asian, and 41 percent are Native American.

Economic inequities in nature loss

This analysis shows that low-income communities experience some of the most severe and overlapping environmental inequities. Nearly 74 percent of nature-deprived communities have low household incomes. Similarly, 60 percent of nature-deprived communities are living below the poverty line.

Housing and the poverty trap

Seventy percent of nature-deprived communities are composed of households who experience severe housing cost burdens, meaning their housing costs account for more than 50 percent of their income. When examining housing status, renter-majority communities make up 83 percent of all nature-deprived areas.

Rural communities face nature loss differently

While this analysis depicts that nature loss and pollution sources are largely concentrated around major metropolitan areas, significant nature loss also occurs in some rural areas. In rural areas, 70 percent of white rural communities are nature deprived, compared with 30 percent of rural communities of color.

Analyzing pollution health hazards and nature loss

Communities burdened by the effects of pollution often also experience nature loss. These two factors—pollution and nature loss—compound one another, increasing the severity of the health risks where they overlap. This analysis finds that the communities located nearest pollution sources are almost twice as likely to be in nature-deprived areas. Among communities in areas with both the greatest concentration of pollution sources and nature loss, 77 percent are communities of color and 75 percent are communities with a low household income.

Communities with less nature experience more negative effects of climate risk

Protected nature is proven to increase the resilience of communities in the face of extreme weather. Yet communities nationwide face growing climate risks—risks that intensify where nature loss is greatest. National analysis shows that areas with the most severe nature loss also face the greatest climate dangers: more severe flooding, deadlier extreme heat, stronger storms, and increasing coastal hazards. For example, of the communities nationwide who live in the convergence of extreme flood risk and nature deprivation, 73 percent are communities of color and 26 percent are white communities. Nearly 80 percent of severely cost-burdened communities live in areas with both nature deprivation and the greatest extreme heat.

Conclusion

This analysis underscores that addressing the nature gap will require not only traditional conservation efforts but also direct confrontation of the systemic racism and economic and health inequities that create and perpetuate environmental injustices. Nature loss affects everyone, but the burdens are not equally shared. This report highlights who is most affected by nature deprivation and demands an immediate change in course. Most pressing, policymakers must prioritize guidance from the communities on the front lines fighting for access to neighborhood parks, to fresh air, to local lakes and rivers—fighting for their right to nature.