Natural Connection: What indigenous wisdom & marginalised people teach us about environmental action

by Joycelyn Longdon

'Urgent, profound and compassionate’ ROBERT MACFARLANE
'Truly original ... Reading it is a balm' AFUA HIRSCH
'Fascinating and thought provoking' CAL FLYN


A lyrical, deeply researched and original work of narrative non-fiction by University of Cambridge environmental justice, AI and bioacoustics researcher and educator Joycelyn Longdon.

Natural Connection illuminates the wondrous awe of the natural world and reveals how marginalised communities and ancient wisdom help us create a sustainable mindset and future for generations to come.

When considering environmental action, many of us view ourselves through the binary of activist or observer. Here, Longdon shows there are many paths to drive positive change, and embracing rage, imagination, innovation, theory, healing and care as outlooks can fuel the wider movement. Rooted in Longdon’s cutting-edge research and featuring contributions from key voices such as Robert Macfarlane, Miranda Lowe, Katherine May and Rebecca Solnit, this is an invitation to approach environmental action as a shared goal rather than an individual burden.

This book celebrate the histories and extraordinary acts of ordinary people who have paved the way for today’s environmental change, such as the Chipko women of India – the original ‘tree huggers’, who pioneered direct action in their communities to combat deforestation – and Nigeria’s Ogoni 9, who fought the threat of fossil fuel extraction in the Delta region. Bringing together inspiring stories from marginalised people from the US to the UK, Brazil to Iran, Ghana to Ethiopia, this book roots us in our intrinsic connection with nature and celebrates the power of community.

‘A wonderful book’ KATHERINE MAY
'Rigorously researched, justice-centred and transformative' MIKAELA LOACH

Genres: Environment, Nonfiction, Nature

333 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 17, 2025

Reviews

[Tabitha Roach Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im VERY sad I have to take this back to the library.

[Kate M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reeeeally enjoyed this beautiful pukapuka & the multifaceted and intersectional approach to not only understanding the climate/environmental crisis but the solutions and people doing the mahi on the ground every damn day who are living on the frontlines of it !!!!! Left me feeling really hopeful and energised!!!!!!!!

[Andrew Cheffings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book very slowly over many weeks in order to process it properly. I think I will read it again soon. It is so full of inspiration for engaging with the necessary transformation to help the Earth to heal with humans still as part of it. I loved the gentle but powerful writing style. I loved the sense of necessary time and urgency. This is a very kind book which allowed me to do more reimagining of how I/we could be part of a healed and wholesome life on Earth, which is diverse, non-discriminatory, empathic, and just.

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rage. Imagination. Innovation. Theory. Healing. Care. These are the roots we must grow, collectively, to face the climate crisis head on. We must reject the western, capitalist, and colonialist notions of individualism and technological saviorism, and instead return to our roots in kinship with each other and the living earth for solutions that will not only restore balance with ecosystems but improve quality of life for all living things. Thank you Joycelyn Longdon for this well-researched, thoughtful, and justice-centered framework and philosophy of natural connection.

[Wemmy Ogunyankin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An abundance of hope in the ways necessary to push us through so many injustices. A call to action for me too, and it’s nice to read a book that evokes positive, thoughtful behaviour change. Love the ways she married creative writing with academic theory and historical storytelling too. The book was so nice and easy to read despite the big ‘scientific’ questions on the climate. I loved it ❤️

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Natural Connection is all about the joy of community, solidarity, and connection with nature. It’s about how we can rediscover our humanity by rediscovering our interdependence with the natural world, and how we can learn to find joy and hope in fighting for a better future.
The stories Langdon tells in this book are utterly astonishing – from the Ogoni 9 who were murdered by the Nigerian state for standing up against Shell’s destruction of their communities, to India’s Chikpo women, the original tree-huggers, who placed their bodies on the line to protect the forest. The courage, compassion, and community spirit of the activists and organisers involved was deeply moving – I actually teared up on more than one occasion reading this book!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joycelyn’s care is pointed squarely at the reader, a hand is reached out offering a path to reconnection with the earth and a chance to take awe and power from those who have paved the way for todays environmental movements. As others have already said, this book is a personal balm, but also I think, a sort of therapy against the doom-speakers given too much air-time in the media and online.

[Mid Merry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Hopeful. Truthful. A stunning book that gave me a new way of remembering . Thank you for this book.