The Words We've Lost: How Nature Language Shapes Our Cultural Connection to the Living World

Picture this: a child points at a "flower" when they see delicate bluebells, vibrant primroses, or towering foxgloves. They call every winged creature a "bird" whether it's a robin, wren, or red kite. Their vocabulary for the natural world is based on a handful of generic terms, unable to distinguish between the rustle of beech leaves and the whisper of oak, between the liquid song of a blackbird and the harsh chatter of magpies. Now imagine that same limitation extending across entire cultures, organisations, and generations. What if this linguistic impoverishment might be one of the most overlooked barriers to both environmental connection and workplace wellbeing?

At the recent Nature Connections 2025 conference, groundbreaking research revealed how profoundly our language shapes our relationship with nature—and how recovering our nature vocabulary could unlock deeper connections that transform everything from employee engagement to sustainability commitment.

The Great Nature Word Decline: 200 Years of Linguistic Extinction

Professor Miles Richardson from the University of Derby presented research that should revolutionise every employee wellbeing programme and sustainability strategy. His team analysed nature word frequency in literature across 200 years and discovered something alarming: our use of nature vocabulary has declined by 50-60% since 1800.

Richardson's research examined how often we use words like "budding," "blossoming," "flourishing," and "thriving"—words that capture the subtle gradations of growth from dormant winter twigs to the tender shoots of spring. His analysis included terms for woodland creatures: from badgers creating extensive setts beneath ancient roots, to herons standing motionless beside waterways, to harvest mice weaving spherical nests amongst grasses. Using three different analytical approaches—including agent-based modelling and macro-factor analysis—his team achieved remarkable consistency: nature words have steadily disappeared from our cultural consciousness alongside urbanisation and industrialisation.

But here's the revelation that changes everything: when Richardson compared the UK's nature word usage globally, we ranked 57th out of 63 countries. Countries with lower urbanisation and higher nature access—like Nepal, Iran, and South Africa—use nature vocabulary 69% more frequently than we do. We've become a nation that's literally lost its words for the natural world.

When Dictionaries Change Everything: The "We Are Nature" Revolution

Meanwhile, lawyer and campaigner Jessie Mond Wedd was part of the 'We Are Nature' campaign run by Lawyers for Nature together with Frieda Gormley and Javvy Royle from House of Hackney, that achieved something unprecedented: convincing the Oxford English Dictionary to change the definition of "nature" itself. Previously, nature was defined as phenomena "opposed to humans and human creations." Now it includes a broader definition recognising humans as part of nature.

This wasn't just academic wordplay. Lawyers for Nature's "We Are Nature" campaign engaged experts like Chris Packham and Caroline Lucas to propose new definitions because, as the campaign demonstrated, language shapes reality. When we define nature as something separate from humans, we inevitably create cultures of extraction rather than integration.

Consider how this manifests in your workplace culture. Do your teams discuss "managing environmental impact" (suggesting separation) or "participating in living ecosystems" (suggesting integration)? The distinction between describing a corporate garden as "landscaping" versus recognising it as "habitat for wildlife and nesting sites for songbirds" literally rewires how people understand their organisation's role in environmental stewardship.

The Neural Networks of Connection: How Words Create Pathways

Richardson's research revealed something profound about how nature vocabulary functions in human culture. Using standardisation and factor analysis, his team identified 28 core nature words that cluster together—terms describing everything from spider webs beaded with morning dew to woodpeckers drumming on hollow trunks, from the earthy petrichor after summer rain to frost-covered meadows at dawn. These words create what we might call "linguistic pathways to connection." When cultures lose these words, they lose cognitive pathways to environmental awareness.

This isn't just poetic speculation—it's measurable neuroscience. Studies show that people with richer nature vocabulary demonstrate stronger emotional connections to natural environments and make more environmentally conscious decisions across all life areas. The words literally create the neural networks that enable connection.

For organisations investing in employee wellbeing programmes, this has transformative implications. Teams that develop richer nature vocabulary through guided nature experiences demonstrate measurably different approaches to sustainability challenges. They don't just comply with environmental policies—they innovate environmental solutions. They begin noticing the difference between silver birch and oak bark, between ash leaves and horse chestnut. This expanded awareness translates directly into more nuanced thinking about environmental challenges.

The London Advantage: Ancient Language in Modern Settings

Here's where London team building programmes possess a unique advantage. Richardson's research showed that the optimal influence on nature connection occurs when around 70% of environmental exposure comes from parents and 30% from local nature access. London's extraordinary access to ancient woodlands like Epping Forest—with its 55,000 ancient trees including graceful hornbeams, gnarled oaks and majestic beech trees creating cathedral-like spaces—provides exactly the kind of rich natural vocabulary that corporate teams desperately need.

When teams experience guided forest bathing sessions in these settings, something remarkable happens: their nature vocabulary naturally expands. They start distinguishing between horse chestnut and sweet chestnut leaves, between the calls of wrens and song thrushes. They notice how wood anemones carpet the forest floor in spring whilst bluebells create rivers of colour, how bracket fungi provide homes for beetles whilst creating living sculptures on decaying logs. This expanded vocabulary doesn't just create pleasant experiences—it rewires their relationship with the environmental systems supporting their business.

From Compliance to Connection: The Language Revolution

Traditional environmental training focuses on data, targets, and compliance. But Richardson's research suggests a more effective approach: start with emotional connection through shared nature experiences, then let the vocabulary of connection naturally develop.

When employees share stories about encountering a magnificent veteran oak or watching sunrise filter through mist rising from reed beds, they're not just team-building—they're developing the vocabulary of connection that underpins genuine environmental consciousness. As Mond Wedd's research demonstrates, these personal nature stories create emotional foundations for environmental commitment that data-driven presentations simply can't match.

The Integration Imperative: Where Wellbeing Meets Sustainability

And yet, this isn't about choosing between employee wellbeing and sustainability—it's discovering they're linguistically and neurologically inseparable. Richardson's research demonstrates that nature-connectedness is in fact a predictor of life-satisfaction and overall wellbeing. So, teams that develop authentic nature vocabulary through meaningful nature experiences become more creative, more collaborative, and more resilient during uncertainty, as well as being more committed to protecting the natural systems supporting all life.

The Path Forward: Practical Language Revolution

How can progressive organisations begin this language revolution? 

Start by creating opportunities for teams to develop nature vocabulary through direct experience. Replace abstract sustainability presentations with guided nature experiences where teams can practice naming, noticing, and sharing what they encounter—from lichen patterns on bark to different moss species on fallen logs, from varied bird calls to the subtle changes in leaf colour that signal the seasons.

When your team starts distinguishing between different bird songs, tree species, or seasonal changes, they're developing the cognitive infrastructure for environmental consciousness. When they share stories about watching a sparrowhawk navigate through woodland or discovering the intricate structure of a wasp's nest, they're spreading the vocabulary of connection throughout your organisational culture.

The research is overwhelming. The approaches are proven. The question facing forward-thinking organisations isn't whether nature vocabulary matters—it's whether you're ready to facilitate the linguistic and cultural shift that makes genuine environmental connection possible.

Are you ready to help your teams rediscover the words they've lost? The ancient vocabulary of connection is waiting in every park, every woodland, every moment when your people step outside and truly notice the living world that surrounds them—from industrious ants beneath their feet to patient herons beside water, from damselflies over summer ponds to birds weaving nests from twigs and moss.

At Nature in Mind, we translate these research insights into transformative corporate experiences. Our forest bathing programmes and nature connection away days are designed for London organisations ready to develop the vocabulary of connection that transforms both employee wellbeing and environmental consciousness.

Ready to help your teams rediscover their nature language?

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