With all the political and climate turmoil going on, and the media’s “If it bleeds, it leads” guidelines for reporting news events, here’s an important phenomenon that’s generally unreported, yet has a powerful impact on our quality-of-life experience. I’ll add more, with D, afterwards.
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Human connection to nature has
declined 60% in 200 years, study finds
Prof Miles Richardson says people risk ‘extinction of
experience’ in the natural world without new policies
The Guardian
9 Aug 2025
People’s connection to nature has declined by more than 60% since 1800, almost exactly mirroring the disappearance of nature words such as river, moss and blossom from books, according to a study.
Computer modelling 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 at the University of Derby, accurately tracks the loss of nature from people’s lives over 220 years by using data on urbanisation, the loss of wildlife in neighbourhoods 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.
The modelling predicts an ongoing “extinction of experience” with future generations continuing to lose an awareness of nature because it is not present in increasingly built-up neighbourhoods, while parents no longer pass on an “orientation” towards the natural world. Other studies have found parental nature connectedness is the strongest predictor of whether a child will become close to nature. Richardson said …
“Nature connectedness is now accepted
as a key root cause of the environmental
crisis. 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.”
Richardson said when he tested different policy and urban environmental changes in the model, he was surprised at the scale of the changes required to reverse the loss of connection to nature.
Increasing the availability of biodiverse green spaces in a city by 30% may look like radical positive progress for wildlife and people but Richardson said his study suggested a city may need to be 10 times greener to reverse declines in nature connection.
The study found that measures to increase popular engagement with the natural world were not effective at reversing long-term declines in nature connectedness. Richardson said such schemes by charities – for instance, the Wildlife Trusts’ #30DaysWild – were still important for boosting mental health but the modelling suggested they don’t halt the intergenerational loss of nature connection.
More effective, according to the study, are measures instilling awareness and engagement with nature in young children and families, such as forest school nurseries.
A further obstacle to restoring nature connectedness is that the modelling shows policies to transform early education and urban areas need to be in place over the next 25 years to reverse the decline. But if done, increases in nature connectedness would become self-sustaining.
Richardson said the scale of societal changes required to re-establish nature connection may not be as daunting as they appeared because the baselines were now so low.
A study found that people in Sheffield on average spent just four minutes and 36 seconds in natural spaces each day. Richardson said …
“Increase that by [a factor of] 10, and people
are spending 40 minutes outside every day –
that may be enough. Working with families
and parents to engage children with nature
with a real focus on that intergenerational
transmission is key. There’s already a lot of
focus on connecting children with nature
but I prefer to say – don’t disconnect them.
“A newborn child is much the same as a child
born in 1800. Children are fascinated by the
natural world. It’s maintaining that through
their childhood and schooling that’s essential,
alongside urban greening. There’s policies
starting to do that but we’ve got to think in
transformational terms – not 30% but 1,000%.”
Intriguingly, there may be hope of a cultural shift. Richardson was surprised to find that nature words in books are actually on the increase again – with the decline having fallen from 60.6% between 1800 and 1990 to 52.4% today. Richardson said …
“Is it a genuine eco-awareness? Is it
the British trend for nature writing?
Is it ‘real’ or is it an artefact of the data?
“I don’t know.
“There has also been an increasing interest
in spirituality in recent decades so
that might reflect people getting
back in touch with nature.”
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The #1 reason for which I created the “garden atrium” in our net zero sustainable homes was oxygen. When we seal up an indoor space to make it more efficient for using the heating or cooling you get from Earth, it helps us heat and cool our home without the need for and utility bill from HVAC equipment. But … we create an air quality problem.
We’re exhaling carbon dioxide, but need more oxygen. And many building materials off-gas toxins, such as formaldehyde, that hurt our health. So …
We need plants that soak up carbon dioxide and generate oxygen. They are most effective means for doing that, as described in the book, “How to Grow Fresh Air,” written by NASA air quality researcher Dr. B.D. Wolverton. A homebuyer automatically gets a large central space that, with its skylight, provides all needed heating for a home. In addition …
They also get two Australian Birds of Paradise and two Giant Peace Lilies, large leafed plants that generate oxygen and soak up CO2. The result?
Toxicologists found we have only 80% the CO2 of outdoor air, and 3-4 times the amount of oxygen.
There’s more …
While we use building materials that don’t off-gas, homeowners may have furniture, drapery, or other materials that do off-gas. Hence, we include two Boston Ferns in each atrium, as those plants filter toxins out of the air. As a result: Some homeowners have had allergies vanish!
Again, there’s more …
Have you ever walked in a forest for a few hours? It has a calming energy that’s more than just oxygenation. The Japanese call it “Forest Bathing.” With all the anger and tension we hear about and may even experience daily, the atrium. full of plants, provides even more. As D explains …
“Too many of today’s children, and even adults, have a tendency to entertain themselves at any moment with games, gambling, or just scrolling. When this happens, it does not give the mind a chance to rest. And in addition, it increases anxiousness and fear.
“Humans need quiet. Humans need connection to living plants and trees. Humans need refuge from the fast pace that most people keep. There is much talk about mindfulness, which works for many, but not all. But going for a walk in a place that is beautiful and calm, like a forest or a beach, is so healthy for a human nervous system.
“Having plants in a home can create that calming feeling very easily. And we would say, the more plants the better. There is something about walking into a home that has many plants that is soothing to our souls. According to the Aspen Institute, even one plant near a light switch, can make a difference.
“The Garden Atrium is magic!
“May you find time to relax, to separate from electronics, and to be in nature to help you counteract the hustle and bustle of today’s world.”
