The biggest threat to anyone becoming involved with "Bushcraft" is not their colour, their religion, their economic status, their location...............it's their Parents, the children of today are too mollycoddled, they can't even walk to school let alone go for a walk in the woods.
We live in an age of protectionism, who would have ever thought we would see the day the Boy Scouts would not be allowed to carry a knife, look at the numbers today in the Scouts/Guides very few, yet they are such wonderful institutions, but they do need parental permission to join, and its the Parents that see it as a bother, taking them etc.
(I have a interest in this as it was one of my long lost relatives that started the Boy Scouts of America in 1910)
When I was a youngster, we didn't have television, we didn't own a car, but what we did have was freedom and the chance to be adventurous, and we all would spend our time in the woods, both boys and girls, didn't matter what your colour was or how tall or fat you were, as long as you could do something useful.
We used to make our own bikes, steeries, (carts with four wheels), bows and arrows, etc, we had the nous to do these things , I think naturally, we used our initiative and learned quickly.
We then see the electronic age, and also the age of protection, where children are no longer free to roam, cant go out on their own, and basically not allowed the freedom to use their inbuilt adventurism(if that is a word), they became more use to being adventurous in watching shows on TV, or movies, Harry Potter etc, which did not really teach them anything about surviving.
Same with the adults of today, look at the shows on TV all about learning, whether its DIY or Cooking, not doing these things for real but by rote.
In todays society its much easier to get other people to do things for you, than to do it yourself, and once you get used to this, then it's hard to get out of the habit. And very hard for people to be enthused about undertaking new tasks, scared of failure, scared of being ridiculed possibly.
Trying to talk or encourage people to do these things is very difficult, most couldn't be bothered, much easier to stay in, watch TV order a meal on the iPhone(other phones are available) this is the modern society of today.
This is why the skills are not being passed on, even in the indigenous people of far away lands are facing the same problem, the youngsters have other things to do, Bushcraft is not cool anymore, it's only done by strange people who like staying out in the cold and the rain, and carry heavy burdens on their backs, it 's not for the youngsters of today. no matter how hard we try to get them to do it.
Even people on here have commented that its better the less people you see when you are out, how long before you see no-one, and how long before the long established walks and paths are gone, because as the saying goes "use them or lose them", yes tourists are plentiful in the summer, but maybe a few of them realise the wellbeing of the open countryside and come back in the fall and the winter, and become involved in Bushcraft after seeing the benefits of a struggled walk or climb up a hill.
There are very few hobbies which you can undertake without a great cost, Bushcrafting involves very little cost, and can be undertaken at no cost at all, so there are no barriers to enjoying the countryside, there are no barriers to learning about wildlife, the only thing you need is the will, it's open to everyone who has the inclination for it.
Now saying all that the only other thing that struck me, is are we odd people?, when ever I am out and about and see someone with a rucksack on, they are usually on their own, are we loners?
Do we crave isolation? like the fisherman on the river bank, sitting in isolation often with their thoughts in another world, peacefull passive, without a care. the lone cyclist breathing heavy in his uphill ride, is it all about getting away from it all?
I would have said a comment about diversity, but I can't even see where that comes into the equation, no barriers then its diverse.
