Sounds outrageous - our default position being it wouldn't happen in New Zealand as we still value kids getting a chance to run and leap and climb. Alas no.
Deputy Children's Commissioner Dr Justine Cornwall sounded a warning at the conference that, despite the appearance of nature on our doorstep in New Zealand, we had some serious challenges. I see inequity of access both for financially-poor families with limited transport options and for families with parents working long hours.
Sustainable Coastlines' Sam Judd reinforced this concern when he spoke about his visits to schools raising awareness around the impact of plastic and other waste on our marine and coastal environment.
He said in one group of 40 students from Manurewa, more than 25 per cent of them had never been to the beach. Louv said the same, quoting a survey showing that more than a third of inner city children hadn't seen the ocean, even when it was only 15 minutes away.
This week a 100-year-old US woman, Ruby Holt from rural Tennessee, saw the sea for the first time through a grant-a-wish programme. She had not been able to justify the time or expense to travel the 400 kilometres to the coast during her lifetime of working in low-paid jobs and raising four children.
Louv coined the phrase "nature deficit disorder" to describe the ill that comes from not spending time outdoors. At the conference he talked about the dangers of experiencing the world only via screens and emphasised he wasn't anti-technology, saying the best minds were hybrids that could use the new tools and had life experience from taking risks and spatial awareness that comes from exploring the outdoors independently.
He noted that we are entering a time in human history where some children are developing with only a virtual experience of nature - it is a historical change and, as Louv commented, evolution doesn't work that fast.
What will be the repercussions for these generations' decision-making abilities as our future leaders?
And the benefits of nature are not always obvious - there is an overwhelming body of research that documents stress reduction, improved mental health and faster recovery from illness, among other benefits. Louv quoted US research showing schools that embraced nature had higher test results, even when other considerations were factored out.
He said children developed more collaboration skills when playing in green space, they were more likely to invent their own games and invite kids different to themselves to join in. In natural playgrounds, the smartest kids stepped up as leaders rather than those with the greatest physical strength, which also helped reduce bullying, he said.
I am lucky to have grown up in nature and that's what I'm doing with my children now - it's not hard when you live in the provinces and are not trapped in long work days with inflexible hours.
The solutions to help grow the best young people we can and have them connected to nature rely on progressive employers stepping up, too.
*Nicola Young is a former Department of Conservation manager who works for global consultancy AECOM. Educated at Wanganui Girls' College, she has a science degree and is the mother of two boys.
