The link between the human being and nature has weakened until they almost break. It is not only a rather common perception but a scientific data that emerged from a new, an important study published in the magazine Earth. The research, conducted by Professor Miles Richardson of the University of Derby, reveals that from 1800 to today our level of connection with the natural world has collapsed by over 60%. A decline that is gradually depriving us of a fundamental relationship for our psychophysical well -being and for the health of the planet.
This phenomenon, defined by scientists “extinction of experience”, describes a condition in which future generations progressively lose awareness of nature simply because it is no longer a constant presence in their life. The computerized model developed by Richardson analyzed historical data over a 220 year, identifying the main causes of this deep fracture: the unstoppable urbanization, the consequent loss of biodiversity and, even more critical factor, the failure to transmit the bond with nature from parents to children.
The most decisive mechanism identified by the research is precisely the intergenerational one: the relationship of parents with the environment would be the main predictor of the orientation of a child towards nature. Richardson’s model confirms it quantitatively, indicating that parental influence is the predominant engine of this long -term decline. If a generation grows in an environment poor in nature and with poor family stresses, it will inevitably transmit this disconnection to the next, triggering a vicious circle that worsens over time.
“The connection with nature is now recognized as one of the main causes of the environmental crisis,” explained Professor Richardson to the Guardian. “It is also vital for our mental health. He combines people and the well -being of nature. There is a need for radical change if we want to change the relationship of society with nature”.
What can we do
But what interventions would be necessary to reverse this trend? The study tested several future scenarios, and the results indicate that the buffer solutions are not sufficient. Even interventions that appear significant, such as a 100% increase in access to nature, prove insufficient to counter decades of decline. To trigger a true turnaround, according to the model, transformative changes would be needed, as an increase of ten times (1000%) of the availability of nature in the living environments.
A fact that may seem discouraging, but that must be contextualized. As Richardson points out, the starting levels are extremely low. A study published in 2019 on Science Direct found that the inhabitants of the English city of Sheffield spend only 4 minutes and 36 seconds a day in green spaces on average. “By increasing this value of (a factor) 10, people spend 40 minutes outdoors every day: it may be enough,” explains the professor.
The most effective strategy, according to projections, is a combined approach: a drastic increase in accessible and quality green spaces, combined with targeted interventions to strengthen the intergenerational transmission. This means investing in educational programs that put direct experience at the center, such as kindergartens in the woods, and supporting families in cultivating this link from early childhood. “There is already a lot of attention to the connection of children with nature,” concludes Richardson, “but I prefer to say: do not disconnect them. A newborn is very similar to a child born in 1800. Children are fascinated by the natural world. It is essential to keep it during childhood and school”.
If policies of this reach were implemented in the next decades, the model provides that, once exceeded a critical threshold, the increase in connection with nature would become a self -sufficient and acceleration process. A shy positive signal, curiously, comes from cultural products: after touching a negative peak in 1990, the use of terms related to nature in the books showed a slight recovery. A small glimmer that perhaps indicates a nascent collective awareness of the profound wealth that we have lost and of the need, now evident and improvable, to find it.
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