According to the naturalist association Wildlife Trust, children in the United Kingdom are losing contact with nature and experiencing a form of spiritual impoverishment.
Today's children, the so-called digital natives, know the ins and outs of smartphones, tablets, computers and all the latest information technologies. Yet they are losing their knowledge of nature and the creatures that inhabit it, unaware of the names, appearance and characteristics of animals and plants.
The warning was sounded by Sir David Attenborough, one of the world's foremost icons of science communication and a pioneer of natural history documentaries, after a survey revealed that four in ten children in Great Britain have never seen a hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) in the wild.
"Young people are becoming spiritually impoverished because they rarely come into contact with the natural world," Attenborough, honorary president of Wildlife Trust, the United Kingdom's most important nature conservation organisation, declared.
Science too has by now demonstrated the numerous benefits of contact with the natural environment, and in recent years a condition defined as "nature deficit disorder" has also come to light, causing children to feel a sense of disorientation whenever they find themselves in a meadow, a field or among trees.
"There is a gap between what society intuitively feels is best for children and what they are actually getting," said Lucy McRobert of Wildlife Trust.
According to a survey carried out by Wildlife Trust, 71 per cent of British children have never seen a lizard in a natural setting, while more than half have never watched the spectacular murmurations of starlings tracing shifting patterns across the sky. The most striking finding of the research concerns hedgehogs: around 37 per cent of young people have never seen one of these endearing mammals, which are very common in the European countryside.
"Contact with nature should not be the preserve of the privileged," Attenborough stressed. "It is fundamental to the development of our children. It is moving to see the joy and wonder on the face of a six-year-old watching a pond skater glide across the water or witnessing the metamorphosis of a caterpillar."
The British naturalist organisation is calling on parents and schools to teach children a love of nature and an awareness of wildlife. "We know that first-hand contact with nature is good for children," Lucy McRobert concluded. "It makes them happier, healthier and more creative, and for some it can have a life-changing impact."