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Natural Connection: What indigenous wisdom & marginalised people teach us about environmental action
'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
'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
- GenresEnvironmentNonfiction
333 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 17, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 5, 2026
I picked up this book a couple months ago because I was feeling like I was losing my connection with environmentalism and wanted something to respark it, and this book was literally perfect for that! It’s written by climate activist Joycelyn Longdon and is split into six sections that each cover a “root” we can nurture to grow our relationship with the living world and fuel climate action: Rage, Imagination, Innovation, Theory, Healing, and Care. This is the author quoting another climate advocate Karen Armstrong but I feel like this passage captures the overall vibe of this book well - “taking a holistic view of the climate crisis, not only focusing on the ‘carbon crisis,’ but understanding climate breakdown as a result of connections between culture, belief systems, and the myths we as a society have told ourselves.”
November 24, 2025
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.
October 1, 2025
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!!!!!!!!
May 29, 2025
Im VERY sad I have to take this back to the library.
November 20, 2025
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.
August 7, 2025
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 ❤️
April 23, 2026
This is such a powerful, educational, enlightening, refreshingly nuanced, and inspiring book. Reading it made me feel revitalized.
In this book, we explore the actions and lessons of different marginalized people from across the world regarding the fight for climate justice. We do this through the multiple parts the book is composed of, each of which is rooted within and emotion or practice, namely: rage, imagination, innovation, theory, healing, and care.
Some key things I learned from this wonderful book are the following:
🌳 We are often taught to suppress our anger, to not let these types of emotions influence our activism, but this is not healthy. Rage, when unexplored and left to fester, consumes us, clouds our point of view, and can make us apathetic. However, when we find a way to canalize it into meaningful action, we can transform it into a powerful tool for changing the world for the better. Just like any other emotion, we shouldn't bottle it up, but actually listen to what it's saying. Rage is born out of wanting to protect what we love and value because it is being threatened. It's natural to feel when we witness or experience injustices. Rage can serve to ignite a spark within us, to push us into taking a stand, but, at the same time, if we rely on rage alone as our fuel, it won't last long. That's why, in order for it to be sustainable, it needs to live within a framework of liberation and joy.
🌳 Far from betraying our activism, joy is actually what sustains it.
🌳 A lot of us think there is no alternative to the current system we live in, because that's what we've been taught to believe. We often think that imagining a better world is futile, as if the way things are is set in stone. But Joycelyn underlines how imagination can and has materialized in the real world ever since the dawn of time. Capitalism and colonialism came from the imaginations of white men, inspired by schools of thought that deemed that white people were superior to nature and other human beings and therefore had a right to dominate them. So, to get out of the state we are in as a society, we can expand our horizons and think beyond the status quo to create different systems. Imagination is a crucial part of building a better world, because it is the very soil from which it grows. Joycelyn also emphazises how people and communities that have endured oppression for centuries have experienced their world ending multiple times. And yet, even through the despair and horror they experienced, they still envisioned better futures and took action to make those futures a reality. If you think about it like that, there's really no excuse to throw in the towel or pretend that nothing we do matters. Like Octavia Butler said "All that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you. The only lasting truth is change."
🌳 We often associate innovation and technology in general with environmental destruction and human rights abuses. Think for example how the obtaining of the minerals necessary for making smartphones relies on human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But Joycelyn reminds us that, though technology can cause harm, it can also do the opposite. With various examples, she illustrates how technology can also be developed based on a harmonious and healthy relationship with the Earth and its inhabitants instead of one of extraction and oppression.
🌳 Theory doesn't have to be exclusionary or only be able to be understood by a select few, it can also be used to translate real experiences into something that allows us to actually understand the problem we're facing, its roots, and the possible actions we can take to mend it. There can be collaboration between academics and people working other roles within the environmental movement. Action and theory can coalesce into something truly transformational for our society.
🌳 We need to change the way we relate to nature, from a place of separateness to a place of oneness. So many of the schools of thought from the past still influence the way we treat nature today, as something we can extract from, as an object, instead of something sacred and alive.
🌳 When we face and embrace the grief we feel for the planet and its inhabitants, instead of running away from it or trying to cover it up, we will discover that, like Yuria Celidwen said "Grief is the way to transformation". Life is cyclical: within endings lie beginnings, and vice versa. Joycelyn highlights the importance of communities where we can collectively process our grief and reconnect with nature. She reminds us that healing is essential, not only for our health, but for the health of the planet as well.
🌳 We have to reimagine the way we understand care. Care is often misused as a reason to displace people from their ancestral lands in the name of conservation. But this is not what caring actually is. Care is not something born out of disconnection, adopting the role of a saviour, but rather something born out of connection, of mutual aid and solidarity. Our society greatly undervalues the role of carers, from those that pick the fruits and vegetables we eat to those that care for the elderly and the sick. Joycelyn also points out how we often view care as if it's a burden we must carry that is supposed to solve a problem, when it's actually a natural, ongoing, and reciprocal process.
🌳 We can hold multiple truths at the same time. We can feel hopeless and yet remain hopeful, we can feel heartbroken and yet trust that things can be changed for the better. Pessimism and optimism both absolve us of having to do anything. Hope, however, demands our engagement. "Our hope must sing and soar and take to the wind, persisting despite the wildest storms, yet it must also be rooted, connected to the Earth and each other, stable and unwavering, in order to seed sustained change."
What a beautiful book. Highly recommended.
In this book, we explore the actions and lessons of different marginalized people from across the world regarding the fight for climate justice. We do this through the multiple parts the book is composed of, each of which is rooted within and emotion or practice, namely: rage, imagination, innovation, theory, healing, and care.
Some key things I learned from this wonderful book are the following:
🌳 We are often taught to suppress our anger, to not let these types of emotions influence our activism, but this is not healthy. Rage, when unexplored and left to fester, consumes us, clouds our point of view, and can make us apathetic. However, when we find a way to canalize it into meaningful action, we can transform it into a powerful tool for changing the world for the better. Just like any other emotion, we shouldn't bottle it up, but actually listen to what it's saying. Rage is born out of wanting to protect what we love and value because it is being threatened. It's natural to feel when we witness or experience injustices. Rage can serve to ignite a spark within us, to push us into taking a stand, but, at the same time, if we rely on rage alone as our fuel, it won't last long. That's why, in order for it to be sustainable, it needs to live within a framework of liberation and joy.
🌳 Far from betraying our activism, joy is actually what sustains it.
🌳 A lot of us think there is no alternative to the current system we live in, because that's what we've been taught to believe. We often think that imagining a better world is futile, as if the way things are is set in stone. But Joycelyn underlines how imagination can and has materialized in the real world ever since the dawn of time. Capitalism and colonialism came from the imaginations of white men, inspired by schools of thought that deemed that white people were superior to nature and other human beings and therefore had a right to dominate them. So, to get out of the state we are in as a society, we can expand our horizons and think beyond the status quo to create different systems. Imagination is a crucial part of building a better world, because it is the very soil from which it grows. Joycelyn also emphazises how people and communities that have endured oppression for centuries have experienced their world ending multiple times. And yet, even through the despair and horror they experienced, they still envisioned better futures and took action to make those futures a reality. If you think about it like that, there's really no excuse to throw in the towel or pretend that nothing we do matters. Like Octavia Butler said "All that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you. The only lasting truth is change."
🌳 We often associate innovation and technology in general with environmental destruction and human rights abuses. Think for example how the obtaining of the minerals necessary for making smartphones relies on human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But Joycelyn reminds us that, though technology can cause harm, it can also do the opposite. With various examples, she illustrates how technology can also be developed based on a harmonious and healthy relationship with the Earth and its inhabitants instead of one of extraction and oppression.
🌳 Theory doesn't have to be exclusionary or only be able to be understood by a select few, it can also be used to translate real experiences into something that allows us to actually understand the problem we're facing, its roots, and the possible actions we can take to mend it. There can be collaboration between academics and people working other roles within the environmental movement. Action and theory can coalesce into something truly transformational for our society.
🌳 We need to change the way we relate to nature, from a place of separateness to a place of oneness. So many of the schools of thought from the past still influence the way we treat nature today, as something we can extract from, as an object, instead of something sacred and alive.
🌳 When we face and embrace the grief we feel for the planet and its inhabitants, instead of running away from it or trying to cover it up, we will discover that, like Yuria Celidwen said "Grief is the way to transformation". Life is cyclical: within endings lie beginnings, and vice versa. Joycelyn highlights the importance of communities where we can collectively process our grief and reconnect with nature. She reminds us that healing is essential, not only for our health, but for the health of the planet as well.
🌳 We have to reimagine the way we understand care. Care is often misused as a reason to displace people from their ancestral lands in the name of conservation. But this is not what caring actually is. Care is not something born out of disconnection, adopting the role of a saviour, but rather something born out of connection, of mutual aid and solidarity. Our society greatly undervalues the role of carers, from those that pick the fruits and vegetables we eat to those that care for the elderly and the sick. Joycelyn also points out how we often view care as if it's a burden we must carry that is supposed to solve a problem, when it's actually a natural, ongoing, and reciprocal process.
🌳 We can hold multiple truths at the same time. We can feel hopeless and yet remain hopeful, we can feel heartbroken and yet trust that things can be changed for the better. Pessimism and optimism both absolve us of having to do anything. Hope, however, demands our engagement. "Our hope must sing and soar and take to the wind, persisting despite the wildest storms, yet it must also be rooted, connected to the Earth and each other, stable and unwavering, in order to seed sustained change."
What a beautiful book. Highly recommended.
April 8, 2026
This is one of the best climate books I’ve read. Both beautifully written, engaging and inviting, I was scribbling on the pages and searching up all of the references Joycelyn included. I can’t wait for her next book!!
April 19, 2026
Natural Connection is not merely a contribution to environmental literature, it is a recalibration of how environmental action itself is understood. Joycelyn Longdon constructs a narrative that moves beyond conventional sustainability discourse, repositioning environmentalism as a deeply interconnected, justice-centered, and culturally rooted practice.
What distinguishes this work is its intellectual architecture. Rather than presenting environmental action through a narrow activist lens, Longdon expands the framework, integrating emotion, community, innovation, and ancestral knowledge as equally valid and necessary pathways to change. This multidimensional approach challenges the reductive binaries that often limit participation in environmental movements.
The book’s strength lies in its synthesis. By drawing on indigenous wisdom and the lived experiences of marginalized communities across regions, from the legacy of the Ogoni 9 in the Niger Delta to grassroots movements globally, it reframes environmental action as collective, historical, and ongoing. These narratives do not function as supplementary examples; they are foundational to the book’s thesis.
Equally important is its forward relevance. Natural Connection does not simply document, it equips. It provides a conceptual and emotional toolkit for re-engaging with environmental responsibility in a way that is sustainable, inclusive, and deeply human.
The result is a work that operates at both intellectual and cultural levels, positioning itself not just as a book, but as a necessary intervention in how environmental futures are imagined and pursued.
What distinguishes this work is its intellectual architecture. Rather than presenting environmental action through a narrow activist lens, Longdon expands the framework, integrating emotion, community, innovation, and ancestral knowledge as equally valid and necessary pathways to change. This multidimensional approach challenges the reductive binaries that often limit participation in environmental movements.
The book’s strength lies in its synthesis. By drawing on indigenous wisdom and the lived experiences of marginalized communities across regions, from the legacy of the Ogoni 9 in the Niger Delta to grassroots movements globally, it reframes environmental action as collective, historical, and ongoing. These narratives do not function as supplementary examples; they are foundational to the book’s thesis.
Equally important is its forward relevance. Natural Connection does not simply document, it equips. It provides a conceptual and emotional toolkit for re-engaging with environmental responsibility in a way that is sustainable, inclusive, and deeply human.
The result is a work that operates at both intellectual and cultural levels, positioning itself not just as a book, but as a necessary intervention in how environmental futures are imagined and pursued.
July 7, 2025
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!
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!
April 21, 2025
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.
April 19, 2026
Our wellbeing is interconnected with the health of the earth
Jocelyn teaches us how to reconnect with nature and integrate indigenous wisdom into our lives to restore balance a resilience. Highly recommended reading!
Jocelyn teaches us how to reconnect with nature and integrate indigenous wisdom into our lives to restore balance a resilience. Highly recommended reading!
September 10, 2025
Brilliant. Hopeful. Truthful. A stunning book that gave me a new way of remembering . Thank you for this book.
January 7, 2026
Incredible book, not an easy read due to the topics covered and injustices highlighted, but truly profound & inspiring.
February 11, 2026
What a fantastic book. Wise, rich in insight and beautifully structured, I feel like this is the book I'd been waiting for for some time.
Read
April 2, 2026Un livre avec de superbes ressources mais finalement j’ai eu plus d’intérêts pour les ressources que pour le livre en tant que tel parce qu’il restait en surface de ce que je savais déjà
April 30, 2026
Super interesting
March 8, 2026
Fascinating read
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews