The biodiversity stripes I shared recently have been very popular. This follow-up post shares another set of stripes that help show why the human-nature relationship has failed and biodiversity is falling.

First, a reminder that the biodiversity stripes were based on the the Living Planet Index which tells us that the population of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles has seen an average drop of 68% globally since 1970. The global stripes start green in 1970 and turn grey as we enter the 2000s.

Global Bio Stripes – Data: Living Planet Index http://stats.livingplanetindex.org/

We know that at the personal level a close relationship with nature is built on five types of engagement with nature. From simply engaging with nature through noticing it, to a deep, emotional and meaningful relationship, where we celebrate and share how nature brings meaning to our lives. Here nature appears in what we write. So it follows that as nature, represented by biodiversity, declines, opportunities to engage with nature also decline and nature has less meaning in our lives. A situation shown by the frequency of nature words appearing in English. Shown below by stripes showing how the frequency of the word ‘nature’ in English has fallen since 1800.

In a deeper analysis of works of popular culture throughout the twentieth-century, Kesebir and Kesebir (2017) identified a cultural shift away from nature with a sharp decline in references to nature from the 1950s through to 2000. Noticeable dips in nature references occurred alongside the dawns of new technology (television in the 1950s and video games in the 1980s). The widespread use of smartphones may be another new dawn of further disconnection, potentially accelerated by uses such as ‘selfie-taking’ and social media which reflect and ultimately shape culture itself. Similarly, as references to nature have declined, individualistic words have increased in popular culture. So, while use of the word ‘nature’ has flatlined over the past century, use of the the word ‘me’ has quadrupled since 1990.

Other researchers have noted how modern life is creating an epidemic of narcissism. People are becoming more self-centred and ‘collective narcissism’ forms too. As you might expect, narcissism is negatively related to a close relationship with nature and is seen as a major barrier to solving environmental problems. A powerful sense of self creates a world where the rest of life is peripheral. The fall in the rest of life (biodiversity) and rise in self-focus (use of me) over the last 50 years can be seen clearly below.

This informal blog is reflected in our recent wider research. We’ve found that a closer relationship with nature, where the rest of life isn’t so peripheral, is related to opportunities to engage with nature – from biodiversity itself, to urbanisation and land use. And to consumption and technology –  income and smartphone ownership.

As biodiversity falls and becomes more distant, nature matters less. We celebrate and write about it less in a spiral of decline. Instead, it would seem we celebrate and write about ourselves. People need to feel part of something and worthwhile, but a close relationship with nature provides that too – explaining the feeling that one’s life is worthwhile four times more than socio-economic status. Nature’s recovery and biodiversity matters.