How much time do you spend in natural spaces each day?
A new study has found that people’s connection to nature has declined by more than 60% since 1800. Computer modeling predicts that levels of nature connectedness will continue to decline unless there are far-reaching policy and societal changes — with introducing children to nature at a young age and radically greening urban environments the most effective interventions.
The study by Miles Richardson, a professor of nature connectedness, tracks the loss of nature from people’s lives over 220 years by using data on urbanization, the loss of wildlife in neighborhoods and, crucially, parents no longer passing on engagement with nature to their children.
In the research published in the journal Earth, Richardson also identified the disappearance of natural words from books between 1800 and 2020, which peaked at a 60.6% decline in 1990.
“Nature connectedness is now accepted as a key root cause
of the environmental crisis,” said Richardson.
“It’s vitally important for our own mental health as well. It unites people and nature’s wellbeing. There’s a need for transformational change if we’re going to change society’s relationship with nature.”
