anthropologists Gary Paul Nabhan and Sara St Antoine to believe that the biophilia gene needed to be triggered.

Could our lack of contact with the natural world be a contributing factor to high levels of inflammation, which could be related to depression and other mental health disorders?

‘You can sort out your relationship with the deity, the transpersonal, your fellow human, your sense of self and your consciousness, but until you actually also have a deep and meaningful relationship with the natural world, you’ll never be whole or complete,’ he said.

a connection with nature in childhood leads to a connection with nature in adulthood.

ethnic minority groups are less likely to access high-quality natural areas compared with the rest of the population.42 This can potentially exacerbate health inequalities in children, as well as in adolescents and adults,

Without our realizing it, our genes may well govern our aesthetic preferences.

How do we as citizens put things right? By, as Jung wrote, ‘touching nature from the inside’. Walking in the woods, lying on the grass, swimming in the sea, practising gratitude for our food, the air we breathe, the water we bathe in, the animals and stars and sunsets we delight in. Seeking the ‘numinous’ again, the sacred and the awesome in the

Contact with nature seemed to moderate or dampen down the psychological stress caused by events such as bullying at school, the death of a grandparent, moving house or fighting with parents.

greener neighbourhoods that offer a connection with nature might actually reduce the health gap between rich and poor and lead to a better, more equal society.