Saguaro National Park is Diversifying Outreach Efforts

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Latinos don’t visit national parks as often as whites.

Why?

Cost, lack of transportation, lack of facilities like benches and tables to accommodate large groups or families, lack of shade, lack of diversity among Park Service employees, lack of information about events and activities, and poor marketing in Latino communities have been cited in the past.

What can we do?

In December, 2015, Saguaro National Park, near Tuscon, Arizona (41.6% Latino), hired an outreach coordinator, Cam Juarez, to figure out how to solve this disconnect and get more Latinos into one of our nation’s greatest accomplishments and most valuable resources-national parks.

Saguaro National Park also partnered with the local nonprofit group, Friends of Saguaro National Park, to hire a diverse group of locals on contract. The Saguaro National Park team wants their outreach efforts, as well as themselves, to reflect the face of the people they want to attract.

Understanding why diverse groups don’t visit parks and participate in activities could have a tremendous impact on their physical activity, thus their health. In fact, parks play such a vital role in health that health care professionals prescribe them for health promotion and disease prevention.

In order to build a culture of health and ensure that everyone has equal opportunity to obtain the numerous health benefits of parks, it is important to, first, build a culture of inclusivity.

The breadth of Latino/a experience is a vital aspect of America’s rich and diverse past.

Learn more about the National Park Service’s outreach efforts here.

Learn more about Park Prescriptions here.

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