A new river walk has been announced by the government as ministers try to improve access to nature in England.

The 13-mile (21km) walk will go through Greater Manchester and the north-west of England. There will be a river walk in each region of the country by the end of parliament, the government has pledged.

No footpath would be created as part of the “new” river walk, government sources confirmed, but the initiative will enable nature recovery work, accessibility upgrades and community engagement work along the route.

In opposition, Labour committed to a Scottish-style right to roam, where there would be an assumed right for people in England to walk around the countryside. However, the party made a U-turn after pressure from countryside groups.

The party replaced this access to nature policy with a pledge to create three national forests and nine river walks.

It is difficult to create river walks as the riverbank is owned by many different landowners, with different attitudes to allowing people to walk, boat or swim on their land.

This walk, named the Mersey Valley Way, is being created to complement regeneration work in the area. New signs to mark it as a national river walk will be erected and stretches of the existing river path will be upgraded to meet accessibility standards for wheelchairs, mobility scooters, prams, cyclists and horse-riders.

The next tranche of national river walks will be identified through competition bids in 2026.

Lady Hayman, the access minister, said: “Nature is a huge source of pride and enjoyment for people across the country, but too many people struggle to find ways to access the outdoors. We are changing that today, delivering on our manifesto pledge by launching the first of nine new national river walks, boosting opportunities to be in nature and supporting local businesses that line the routes.

“The Mersey Valley Way offers 21km of new paths for people in Manchester and Stockport to explore, be outdoors, and enjoy the nature on their doorstep.”

The government said it had chosen the area as it had a large concentration of low-income households. Research has found that people on lower incomes, on average, are spending significantly less time in nature. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said there were 30,000 low-income households in Stockport alone, and they hoped this would improve their access to nature.