The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has launched an internal “youth revolution”, which will include sending young people to attend the charity’s board meetings.
The charity said it was “transforming” the way it worked with young people, in a document shared with volunteers.
As part of its efforts to engage further with young people, the charity will invite members of its youth council, which is open to people aged 16 to 24, to attend board meetings.
The youth council has regular online meetings, and gives young people opportunities to get involved in RSPB projects and events.
The RSPB also said it would give 16- to 24-year-olds free entry to its reserves for a two-year pilot period from 6 November.
Alice Hardiman, director of campaigns at the RSPB, said: “Young people within the 16 to 24-year-old age group are currently under-represented in our membership and in much of our engagement work.
“Through consultation with our youth council members and by taking into account statistics on young people’s engagement with nature, it became clear we need to do more to engage meaningfully with this key audience if we are to encourage everyone in society to act for nature.
“Young people face barriers accessing nature on a daily basis and offering free access to reserves for this age group is just a first step, showing our intent to transform the way we engage with young people.”
The charity did not specify how often the young people would be invited to board meetings or what their role would be.
The RSPB has about 200 reserves and charges an average of £6 for an over-18s ticket to one of its 21 most-visited sites.
The charity, which had an income of almost £160m in the last financial year, does not collect data on the age of its visitors, so it is unclear how much income it will lose following this change, according to reports in The Guardian newspaper.
RSPB also plans to hold a Youth in Nature summit in February next year, for young people in the 16 to 24 age range.
The charity hopes to improve its engagement with young people in this age bracket through the changes, with the document to its volunteers saying that the charity’s organisational reach within the 16-to 24-year-old audience was very low.
In a statement, the charity said: “At the moment we know we need to do more to engage and connect with 16- to 24-year-olds. Young people are less likely to visit our nature reserves than other age groups and we know that cost is one of the main barriers.
“By removing entry charges, we hope more young people will come to explore these wonderfully wild places and connect with the great outdoors in new ways.”