Introduction

Land abandonment and rural depopulation are accelerating globally. Hundreds of millions of hectares of cropland have been abandoned globally since 1950 due to demographic, economic, and environmental changes (Crawford et al. 2022; Li and Li 2017). As a result, the proportion of the human population living in rural areas has decreased by ∼25% in less than 50 years (Daskalova and Kamp 2023), with an increase in the exodus of populations from rural to urban areas. Today, 55% of the world’s population lives in or around cities, and this proportion is projected to increase to 68% by 2050 (UNDESA 2018). When people leave their rural lives behind to pursue their fortunes in cities or when agriculture is no longer profitable, the lands they once toiled on are often left unused. This rural abandonment generates positive and negative consequences that vary worldwide and at different spatial scales (Quintas-Soriano et al. 2022). Among the negative impacts, the literature reports a reduction in agricultural landscape heterogeneity, soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and a reduction in cultural and esthetic values (Rey Benayas 2007). On the other hand, the positive impacts include natural revegetation, which helps water retention, soil recovery, and increased species biodiversity (Subedi et al. 2022). There are several motivations for people to leave their rural lands and move to urban areas, including socioeconomic and political changes, declining subsistence farming, and environmental factors (Frei et al. 2020; Quintas-Soriano et al. 2023). In addition to the diversity of factors that force rural depopulation and consequently drive land abandonment, we can determine how climate change and the geopolitical landscape also contribute to intensifying this global issue. The scale at which this is occurring around the world urges us to put the spotlight on the places people have left behind as potential sources of future solutions for conservation while also protecting human livelihoods.

The processes of abandonment in rural lands in parallel to urban intensification occur worldwide, resulting in a disconnection between people and nature. This global trend is particularly relevant for abandoned lands. People’s disconnection from nature is one of the roots underpinning the human actions that lead to rural abandonment (Soga and Gaston 2016) and influence environmental behavior. The conceptual framework of human–nature connectedness (HNC) proposed by Ives et al. (2018) can be key to understanding people’s connectedness to nature in rural abandoned lands. HNC is articulated as the factors that underpin how humans relate to nature when connection and disconnection occur, whether they are a part of nature or not (Schultz 2002). To understand HNC, Ives et al. (2018) and Riechers et al. (2021) distinguished five HNC dimensions: (1) material, understood as the extraction and consumption of natural resources; (2) experiential, associated with activities carried out in contact with nature; (3) cognitive, related to values and attitudes toward nature and to the knowledge about the environment; (4) emotional, considering feelings or affective bonds with nature; and (5) philosophical, concerning the deepest ideas and worldviews of what nature is and why it matters. In addition, HNC can be understood through the value types that represent different values attached to nature, which include instrumental value (i.e., which often relates to nature’s contributions to people and refers to the value attributed to something as a means to achieve a particular end), intrinsic value (i.e., which refers to the inherent value of nature and its components), and relational value (i.e., which reflects symbolic relationships with natural entities to the extent that such relationships are embedded in people’s identity and everyday life) (IPBES 2022). In this study, we recognize the existing discourse regarding the ongoing deliberations surrounding the categorization of values of nature and the potential intersections among them (Himes and Muraca 2018). Despite the importance of an in-depth understanding of all these HNC dimensions, in recent decades, extensive scientific literature has focused predominantly on how people benefit from nature, concentrating on understanding the most tangible HNC (i.e., material and experiential) (Abson et al. 2017). Although the material and experiential dimensions are easier to investigate, they are less likely to produce significant changes in the system toward sustainability (Meadows 1999; Riechers et al. 2021). Nevertheless, research on emotional and philosophical responses to nature remains less explored (Buijs and Lawrence 2013; Garau et al. 2024; Otamendi-Urroz et al. 2023).

The main goal of this study is to assess HNC prevalence and its implications for rural areas to identify factors that promote or prevent rural abandonment in Purchena, a rural region of Almería in southern Spain. To do so, we first (1) explored the level of HNC and identified differences according to the different attachments of locals to rural areas. Second, we (2) investigated how diverse nature values (i.e., intrinsic, instrumental and relational) influence HNC. Then, we (3) evaluated the weight of the dimensions (i.e., material, experiential, cognitive, emotional, and philosophical) influencing the levels of connectedness to nature and (4) determined how rural areas support or diminish human well-being in the context of rural abandonment. Finally, we discuss barriers and opportunities to support rural populations and to advocate for rural development.

Materials and methods

Study area

The case study is located in the municipality of Purchena, a small town in the Alto Almanzora region of Almería, southeastern Spain (Fig. 1). The name of the region was given by the Almanzora River, which runs through the region and acts as a physical barrier that shapes and connects the area from west to east. This geographical feature has facilitated human settlement since prehistoric times (Peña y Montes de Oca 1986). Currently, traditional agricultural management represents the vestiges of the Muslim period on terraced farms and, in many cases, the use of irrigation channel systems (Ibáñez de Miguel 2014).

Fig. 1
figure 1

a Study area location and human population trend in peninsular Spain from 2011 to 2021 (Spanish Statistics National Institute 2023a). b Purchena land-use types in 2020 (Andalusian Network of Environmental Information 2020). Traditional almond tree cultivation in the mountains (top), Purchena village and surrounding mountains (middle), Almanzora intermittent river, and traditional orchards. c Historical human population trajectory in Purchena from 1900 to 2022 (Spanish Statistics National Institute 2023a)

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This region is characterized by a semiarid climate, with an average annual rainfall of approximately 335 mm, cold winters of approximately 10 °C, temperatures below 0, and hot summers of approximately 32 °C, occasionally reaching 40 °C; the average annual temperature is approximately 16 °C (Tortosa 2018). Climatic, orographic, and edaphic characteristics have shaped local landscapes, mostly represented by forest and agricultural lands (Fig. 1b).

The municipality of Purchena covers a surface area of 56.57 km2, with a population density of 27 people/km2 and has a negative natural population change, indicating a trend toward population loss (Andalusian Multiterritorial Information System 2021). Over the last 100 years, the municipality has reduced its population from 3004 people in 1900 to 1550 in 2022, which represents a decrease of 48% (Spanish Statistics National Institute 2023a; Fig. 1c). In 2022, 45% of the population was over 50 years old, and the number of people over 18 years who were born in Purchena but currently residing abroad was 242, representing ~ 16% of the population. The percentage of the foreign population in 2022 was 12%, mostly from the UK (28.4%) and Morocco (19.7%), with the first foreign residents in the municipality being registered in 2001. This depopulation is consistent with the overall patterns of outmigration that have occurred in the last 60 years in this region: the abandonment of rural and mountainous areas, produced by the exodus of people toward urban areas along the coast (Quintas-Soriano et al. 2016). Most of the economic sectors in Purchena are in the tertiary sector, with employment related to the administration (head of the judicial district) and education sectors (centers for minors in foster care) (Tortosa 2018). The secondary sector has a great impact on the municipality economy related to the manufacture of ornamental rock, especially at present linked to the multinational Cosentino (Carretero Gomez 2004). The primary sector, represented by agriculture, has hardly any benefits for the economy in global terms, but for the domestic economy, subsistence activity is broadly practiced by locals; livestock farming is minor, as is forestry or the extraction of raw materials (Tortosa 2018). Agricultural land abandonment is a consequence of the aforementioned demographic shift to cities and the aging of the remaining inhabitants of rural areas (Pardo and Guerrero 2003; Quintas-Soriano et al. 2016). The agricultural land area in the “Alto Almanzora” region was 151,702 hectares in 1999. However, by 2020, this number had decreased significantly to 50,604 hectares, representing a 33.3% decrease (Spanish Statistics National Institute 2023b). Thus, the convergence of depopulation and the decline of traditional agricultural land make Purchena an ideal study area for addressing our goals.

Survey design and social sampling

The survey was designed in Spanish, the local language of the study area. The social sample was designed to capture three groups of people: (i) people who were born and lived in Purchena, (ii) people who were born in Purchena, but now live outside, and (iii) people who were born outside, but now live in Purchena. Using a random sampling strategy (García-Llorente et al. 2020), we conducted semi-structured face-to-face surveys in the municipality of Purchena. With the goal of covering the three groups of respondents, particularly those who do not live in Purchena, we also designed an online survey. First, individuals were sampled from the population to encompass a wide range of the local citizenry. Potential respondents over the age of 18 were randomly selected from public areas (such as main squares, bars, or simple streets) and invited to complete the survey, which was developed in Spanish. Second, the online survey designed to target those respondents who now live outside the municipality was shared by an online link using social networks. The sampling was restricted to individuals over 18 years old. Participants were informed of the objective of the study. Informed consent was obtained before any information was collected.

The survey was structured in different sections to capture information about (A) the human–nature relationship in the rural environment, (B) dimensions that explain HNC (material, experiential, cognitive, emotional, and/or philosophical), and (C) well-being components associated with living in a rural area. Additionally, sociodemographic information (i.e., age, educational level, type of occupation, living status, gender, etc.) was collected to characterize the sample (Appendices A and B). The survey included different types of questions, such as questions using quantitative scales (a five-point Likert scale), closed yes/no questions, multiple-choice questions, and open-ended questions about why respondents made their choices.

A survey pretest was conducted in April 2021 to ensure that the survey was easily understandable and could be completed within 20 min. Surveys were carried out from April to May 2021, both in person and online. The combination of face-to-face and online surveys was necessary to comply with the social restrictions derived from the COVID-19 pandemic. The online questionnaire was developed by using Google Forms, maintaining the same structure and type of questions as in the face-to-face questionnaire (Appendix B). A total of 122 surveys were collected, comprising 81 surveys through face-to-face interviews and 41 online interviews. The sample size was estimated to be representative, with a confidence interval of 95% and an estimated margin error of ± 8. During this data collection process, all the surveys were checked for validity and completeness. Surveys that were incomplete were excluded from the analysis.

Data analysis

The survey data were systematically entered into an Excel database to facilitate further analyses. To explore HNC, respondents were asked to indicate their level of connection to the natural landscapes of Purchena by selecting one of the five levels of Inclusion of Nature in Self (INS), represented by different circle associations between ‘nature’ and ‘myself’. In doing so, we adopted the INS scale originally proposed by Schultz (2002), which has proven to be reliable and validated in previous research focused on exploring the extent to which an individual includes nature within his or her cognitive representation of the self (e.g., Asanza et al. 2023; Pérez-Ramírez et al. 2021). Circle associations were presented on a scale of 1–5, where 1 = strongly disconnected, 2 = somewhat disconnected, 3 = neutral, 4 = somewhat connected, and 5 = strongly connected. We then calculated the relative frequencies of each connectedness level across the three types of respondents’ living status in Purchena and estimated them based on the three samples of living status. To explore significant differences across the three types of living status in the study area for each HNC level and value type, we performed a Kruskal‒Wallis test.

Then, we explored the value types associated with HNC levels through the reasons underpinning respondents’ choices on a specific level of connection to nature (Pérez-Ramírez et al. 2021). We asked, ‘Why have you chosen this association of circles?’, and we reclassified the answers according to the types of values expressed in their content. Specifically, we categorized them into three types of values, following previous research (Arias-Arévalo et al. 2017; Chan et al. 2018; IPBES 2022; El Ghafraoui et al. 2023): (i) instrumental values (related to values), which encompass nature’s utility and direct benefits derived from nature, such as economic benefits; (ii) intrinsic values, which pertain to the inherent value of nature, including the ethical and moral considerations that humans hold toward it; and (iii) relational values, which arise from the relationship between humans and nature, encompassing principles, virtues, and corresponding responsibilities.

Frequencies were estimated in relation to each value type across the different levels of HNC and the type of respondents’ living status in the study area.

The five dimensions of HNC proposed by Ives et al. (2018) are (1) the material dimension, such as food, fuel, or artisan goods; (2) the experiential dimension, covering visits to nature or specific activities in nature; (3) the emotional dimension, including spirituality, esthetics, and sense of place; (4) the cognitive dimension, which addresses knowledge and awareness; and (5) the philosophical dimension of connectedness, which concerns normativity and values of a good life (Ives et al. 2018, 2017; Riechers et al. 2021). These dimensions were explored through specific questions in the survey (see Appendix A). The importance of each dimension was ranked using a Likert scale. The relative frequencies of each dimension were estimated and represented by a Nightingale diagram that was developed using an Excel toolbox add-in, Kutools TM. The gradient of leverage points from shallow to deep leverage points based on Meadows (1999) was used to represent Nightingale diagrams (Pérez-Ramírez et al. 2021). In addition, we identified quotes of examples for each level in each dimension. A table showing the frequency of each level for each dimension and its example quotes can be found in Appendix C.

Finally, we asked respondents to determine whether they would recommend that future generations live in the study area (closed questions with the options “Yes” or “No”; Appendix A) and the arguments supporting the choice of why they would or would not recommend that rural area. Responses to these open-ended questions were analyzed through qualitative content analysis (Hsieh and Shannon 2005). The data were then coded and reclassified following the parameters of human well-being used in the Fagerholm et al. (2020) study, along with the classification of Rogers et al. (2012): quality of life, education, physical and economic security, material standards of living, leisure and other outdoor activities, agency and political voice, health, social relations, and ecosystems, to explore which parameters and aspects of human well-being are most important in choosing to live in a rural setting. Arguments indicating why they did not choose to live there were codified as barriers, while those that justified why they chose to live in this rural environment were codified as opportunities. Finally, the percentage of responses for each parameter of human well-being was calculated, differentiating between those perceived as opportunities and those perceived as barriers in relation to each of the living statuses in the municipality of Purchena.

Results

Sociodemographic characterization of the population of Purchena

The sample was distributed across three main groups of respondents based on the type of living status in Purchena: 58.20% of respondents identified themselves as having been born and continuing to live in Purchena; 18.85% were born in Purchena, but currently lived in other localities; and 22.95% were born outside Purchena, but currently lived in Purchena (Table 1).

Table 1 Sociodemographic characterization of the social sample
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A slightly greater percentage of women than men were surveyed (59.84% of the sample compared to 40.16% of the male respondents). The average age of the respondents was 45 years. A similar percentage of respondents were in the age range of 28–37 years and 38–47 years (22.13% and 22.95%, respectively), followed by those in the age range of 48–57 years (18.85%). Respondents aged 18–27 and 58–67 years had very similar percentages in the sample (13.11% and 14.75%, respectively), and the lowest percentage was represented by the age ranges of 68–77 and 78–87 years (4.92% and 3.28%, respectively). This data aligns fairly well with the demographics of the population of the study area for the year 2022 (Appendix D). The social sample was mostly represented by respondents with a high formal level of education (37.30% held a university degree), followed by a low formal level of education (19.84% had a primary education) and a high school level (18.25%).

Levels of HNC toward the rural area of Purchena

Overall, the results revealed high levels of connection with nature among respondents in Purchena. The mean HNC of the total sample was 4.28 (of 5 points). Most respondents defined their level of connection with nature as very high or high (43.44% and 40.98%, respectively; Fig. 2). Very few people (13.11%) indicated a medium level of connection with the natural environment of Purchena, while people who reported a low level of connection represented 2.46% of all respondents. None of the respondents chose the option of having a very low connection with the natural environment in the study area.

Fig. 2
figure 2

Levels of human–nature connectedness through type of living status of respondents toward the study area. Statistical significance is indicated by * (< 0.01) through a Kruskal‒Wallis test

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Regarding the relationship between HNC and the type of living status in Purchena, we observed statistically significant differences for very high and middle HNC. The respondents who lived in Purchena (regardless of whether they were born there or elsewhere) had the highest level of HNC (52.11% and 46.43%, respectively; Fig. 2), while those who were born in Purchena but lived elsewhere showed much lower percentage (13.04%) (Kruskal‒Wallis = 11.612, p < 0.01). The middle level of HNC was mostly represented by people who were born in Purchena but currently live elsewhere (34.78%; Fig. 2) (Kruskal‒Wallis = 10.834, p < 0.01).

Nature´s values supporting levels of HNC

Relational values were the most frequently mentioned type of value by local respondents (65% of total responses), followed by intrinsic values (30%), and finally instrumental values (5%). In relation to the types of values associated with the levels of HNC, a similar distribution of value types was observed (Fig. 3A). The respondents with very high and high HNC mentioned the highest level of relational values (27.74% and 26.45%, respectively, Fig. 3A), followed by intrinsic (14.84% and 10.97%, respectively) and instrumental values (3.23% and 1.29%, respectively). In contrast, the respondents with low and middle HNC reported lower percentages of relational values than did those with high HNC (9.7% and 1.3%, respectively), as in the case of intrinsic values (3.23 and 1.29%, respectively). However, they did not report instrumental values.

Fig. 3
figure 3

A Percentage of responses for the type of values (intrinsic, relational, and instrumental) associated with different levels of human–nature connection. B Percentage of responses for the type of values (intrinsic, relational, and instrumental) through the living status in the study area

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No statistically significant differences according to the Kruskal‒Wallis test were found regarding the type of values mentioned by the three groups based on the type of respondents’ living status in the rural area. All three groups of respondents identified relational values as the main type of value supporting their connection with the rural area (Fig. 3B). However, respondents who were born in the area but currently lived elsewhere represented a greater percentage (81%) of the sample than did respondents in the other two groups (approximately, 60% for each group). Intrinsic values were most frequently mentioned by the group of respondents who were born and currently lived in Purchena (33%) and by those who were born elsewhere but currently lived in Purchena (31%). Finally, instrumental values were mentioned more often by those respondents who were born elsewhere but currently lived in Purchena (9%) and by those who were born and currently lived in Purchena (4%). The respondents who currently lived elsewhere did not mention instrumental values.

Dimensions of HNC

The philosophical dimension had the highest value of importance by the respondents (67.21% of respondents), followed by the cognitive (59.02%), emotional (59.02%), and experiential (49.18%) dimensions (Fig. 4). The material dimension was chosen by 50% of respondents with a medium level of importance. Only the material and experiential dimensions showed very low values of importance.

Fig. 4
figure 4

Nightingale diagrams showing the percentage of responses across a Likert scale (1–5) for each of the dimensions of human–nature connectedness (HNC): material, experiential, cognitive, emotional, and philosophical (Horcea-Milcu 2022; Pérez-Ramírez et al. 2021). Each of the dimensions are placed as a lever to promote change in the system within the leverage point framework

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The philosophical dimension corresponded to 67.21% of the responses, indicating a very important value (Fig. 4). The main arguments for choosing this dimension were connected to eudaimonic stewardship related to care for landscapes as necessary for a good life, such as “I consider it as having a life. When you are away, there is more stress, the pace of life, the distances, the timetables, the relationships between people are different, of less quality” (Respondent #25; 42 years old; was born elsewhere but currently lived in Purchena); "Our environment is part of our life, in fact I think we depend on its health" (Respondent #39; 45 years old; was born elsewhere but currently lived in Purchena). Additionally, some arguments were connected with social relations, a sense of agency and a sense of place, such as “Because when I was young, I didn’t value the village, but when I grew up I learned to value it, the quality of life we have here, my children have all the services, together with a lot of security and tranquility, community, it is still a very small village” (Respondent #54; 40 years old; was born and currently lived in Purchena); “Because of the tranquility, the people are nicer, less noise, less pollution, I am from Portugal and my family has been coming to live here because I have invited them” (Respondent #68; 40 years old; was born elsewhere but currently lived in Purchena) (see Appendix C for more information).

We found that 51.64% of the respondents associated the cognitive dimension with a high value of importance and 34.43% with a very high value (Fig. 4). Among the main reasons for choosing this dimension, we found arguments connected to cultural identity and ecological literacy: “On the one hand, the land we have belongs to our ancestors and that always makes you proud and fulfilled. On the other hand, the celebrations with family and friends in the village. Additionally, walking in our mountains is a rich and satisfying experience. We have much more than we think… Although we need to value much of what we have” (Respondent #93; 40 years old; was born in Purchena but currently lived elsewhere); “Collecting almonds, olives, San Marcos snacks, looking for fennel, all this in the Gevas ravine are good memories and unforgettable and very nostalgic” (Respondent #86; 57 years old; was born in Purchena but currently lived elsewhere).

For the emotional dimension, a high value of importance was chosen by 59.02% of the respondents, while a very high value of importance was chosen by 36.07% (Fig. 4). In this case, the emotional dimension was connected by the respondents to negative or positive emotions to nature: “They are beautiful, breathing the air, the coolness that the river gives when you pass by for work, it looks like silver when it is dawn or dusk, when it comes down from San Ginés” (Respondent #65; 57 years old; was born and currently lived in Purchena); “It hurts me, it brings tears to my eyes sometimes with the beauty of a simple mouth. Admiration, relaxation, memories, both positive and very negative, especially with relatives, but nature itself is very positive for my life” (Respondent #40; 65 years old; was born and currently lived in Purchena); however, also with the sense of agency, principles and individual identity, such as “When everything is green, seeing everything from El Castillo, but in general it relaxes me just to be in the environment, even when I go out, which I notice more when I come back, but I also feel negative when I see the irrigation ditches being piped or when I see the water coming out of San Ginés” (Respondent #81; 56 years old; was born and currently lived in Purchena).

For the experiential dimension, 49.18% of the respondents assigned a high value of importance, and 41.8% of the respondents indicated a very high value of importance. Among the main reasons for choosing this dimension were connected to childhood experiences in nature and identified as social memory such as “On the one hand, the land we have belongs to our ancestors and that always makes you proud and fulfilled. On the other hand, the celebrations with family and friends in the village. Additionally, walking in our mountains is a rich and satisfying experience… We have much more than we think… Although we need to value much of what we have” (Respondent #93; 40 years old; was born in Purchena but currently lived elsewhere); or connected to social events in nature with cultural identity such as “Because I relate it to leisure activities such as hiking, traditional festivals, school activities, tree planting, recycling, bathing in the river. It is a very natural environment” (Respondent #26; 36 years old; was born there and currently lived in Purchena) (Fig. 4; Appendix C).

Finally, the material dimension was indicated to have a medium value of importance by most of the respondents (50%), followed by a high value of importance (36.89%) and a very high value of importance (4.1%). Among the main arguments provided by the respondents were those related to the knowledge that food comes from and is linked to social responsibility, such as “I try to consume local products, the bakery is no longer open, but I buy bread that is sold in the village shops and comes from the villages in the area, I buy oil from here, and I buy in the village shops always asking about the origin of the products” (Respondent #11; 45 years old; was born elsewhere but currently lived in Purchena); “I buy only in the area and I ask where it comes from so that it is from here, the products from here give me more confidence” (Respondent #9; 32 years old; was born there and currently lived in Purchena) (Fig. 4, Appendix C).

Barriers and opportunities to human well-being that may be determined by living in rural areas

The results showed that a significant majority of respondents (94% of the total sample) recommended residing in this rural area, while only 6% chose not to recommend it. The main well-being components connected to continuing to live in a rural area were “physical and economic security” and “social relations” (20% and 19% of responses, respectively) (Fig. 5). “Health”, “agency and political voice”, and “quality of life” were also selected as important components (13%, 12%, and 11%, respectively). The human well-being components with lower values were “ecosystems”, “leisure and other outdoor activities” (6% of the responses for both), and “education” (4%). On the other hand, “physical and economic security”, and “material standards of living” were the main components perceived as barriers to continuing to live in rural areas.

Fig. 5
figure 5

Percentage of responses given for each parameter of human well-being divided between those perceived as opportunities and those perceived as barriers in relation to each of the living statuses in the municipality of Purchena: A born and living in Purchena; B born in Purchena and living elsewhere; and C born elsewhere and living in Purchena

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The respondents who were born and lived in Purchena indicated all parameters of human well-being as opportunities (Fig. 5A). “Economic prosperity” and “tranquility” were the parameters with the highest percentage of mentions (12%), followed by “quality of life” (10%). For respondents who were born in Purchena but currently lived elsewhere, 11 parameters out of 24 were mentioned as very relevant for both barriers and opportunities (Fig. 5B). Of those parameters, 33% of the responses corresponded to “economic prosperity”, which was mentioned only as a barrier, and “leisure”, but this was a lower proportion (8%). On the other hand, “quality of life” (19%) and parameters related to social relations components such as “generations” (14%) were identified as opportunities to live in the study area. Finally, for respondents born elsewhere and living in Purchena, we found a middle ground in relation to the other two categories of attachment to the study area in terms of the number of human well-being parameters mentioned (Fig. 5C). In particular, “economic prosperity” was mentioned by more respondents as a barrier (14% versus 3% as an opportunity). “Tranquility” (14%), “quality of life” (8%), “raising children” (7%), and “sense of place” (7%) were the most frequently mentioned components of human well-being as parameters for opportunity.

Discussion

Relational values, emotions, and philosophical worldviews shape connectedness to nature in rural Spain

Our findings provide evidence on how connectedness to nature in rural Spain is significantly influenced by the relational values that people form in nature, as well as by emotional links and philosophical worldviews. The term relational values has been extensively used in recent years as a means to make space for qualitative approaches in the social sciences and is often neglected in environmental management and science. However, this term has been defined in different ways by several authors in recent years, which indicates the current debate on how to differentiate them from other types of value (i.e., instrumental or intrinsic) or the possibility that two or more types of value can coexist or are formed simultaneously. For instance, Chan et al. (2018) defined relational values as those that arise from a relationship with nature, encompassing a sense of place, feelings of well-being, and cultural, community, or personal identities. Later, the IPBES report (2022) offered a more complete and consensual definition that states them as symbiotic relationships with natural entities to the extent that such relationships are embedded in people’s identities and everyday life. Although our results showed that relational values have more weight in explaining how people connect with nature in our rural case study, they also indicated the existence of instrumental values or even suggested that both values are formed simultaneously. Here, we acknowledge the academic debate about how to distinguish instrumental from relational values. On the one hand, some authors have argued that instrumental values are intrinsically part of relational values, as they require an instrumental relationship between the valuer and the valued object (See et al. 2020). On the other hand, other authors, such as Himes and Muraca (2018), argued that the fundamental difference between instrumental and relational values lies in whether there is substitutability of the nature that the valuers relate to. Our results are positioned with the second approach, but they also recognize and exemplify the need for a deeper understanding in clarifying the different roles that nature can have in forming relational values and other values of nature.

Nevertheless, our results indicated that relational values surpassed both intrinsic and instrumental values in defining the shape of people’s connection to nature in the rural area studied. This result is consistent with previous research showing that people living in rural areas are more likely to express intrinsic and relational values and less likely to identify instrumental values for defining their connectedness to nature (Arias-Arévalo et al. 2017). Although the area of study is representative of a rural area where traditional agricultural practices are a relevant element in the lives of many rural inhabitants, our results do not contradict this. Traditional agricultural practices are interpreted in the case study beyond the instrumental values that agriculture provides. In the case study, we can interpret these results because of how respondents value agriculture because of their relationship with the area, which is linked to local identity, cultural heritage, and the importance that agriculture has because it probably comes from family tradition (Quintas-Soriano et al. 2023). This line of thought is not exempt from debate. Sustainability scholars have argued that rural people are more economically dependent on natural resources and thus more often express instrumental values (Huddart-Kennedy et al. 2009). Instead, we interpret our results from the perspective that cultural and emotional connections play a role in connecting people to rural lands (Arias-Arévalo et al. 2017). Additionally, among the various dimensions of connectedness to nature studied, we found that the philosophical worldviews of locals and emotional attachment were particularly relevant for maintaining a good quality of life and fostering connection to nature. These results demonstrate the importance of values such as sense of place, cultural identity, ecological literacy, associated emotions, and philosophical motivations encompassing childhood memories and significant experiences (Ives et al. 2017). We suggest that a deeper understanding of these values linked with nature in rural Spain is crucial for comprehending motivation and reasons to live in rural areas or to abandon them (Ives et al. 2018) and thereby designing context-specific strategies to promote or prevent depopulation in those areas. For instance, the municipality of Purchena has established a plan for increasing the availability of houses for new incomers in the area by rehabilitating old houses; also, a municipality plan has recently been established to support new entrepreneurs and facilitate the conversion of vacant land into agricultural projects promoting sustainable practices. These findings indicate that although social, economic, and ecological consequences underpin rural abandonment (Quintas-Soriano et al. 2022), it is important to recognize that other factors beyond a lack of connectedness to nature (Riechers et al. 2022, 2021) may drive rural abandonment and depopulation.

Understanding a good quality of life as an opportunity for inhabiting rural areas

Our findings suggest that rural environments in Purchena contribute to the quality of life of its residents. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines quality of life as “an individual’s perception of his or her position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which he or she lives and in relation to his or her goals, expectations, standards, and concerns” (WHOQOL Group 1998). Consequently, quality of life is a broad and multidimensional concept subject to personal interpretation. This underscores the significance of investigating and comprehending contextual parameters that support subjective well-being, such as natural features and their impact on individuals. Although the data analyzed do not directly connect HNC with well-being, our results indicate that the rural environment of the case study provides a high level of connectedness with nature as well as a diversity of well-being components. This finding is in agreement with previous studies showing that people who are more connected to nature also tend to have higher levels of self-reported hedonic well-being (Capaldi et al. 2017; Pensini et al. 2016; Pritchard et al. 2020). In our case study, the subjective interpretation of quality of life is rooted in the understanding that the rural area under consideration offers tranquility, thereby promoting mental health and fostering a social perception of belonging to a small community. This environment encourages regular social interactions with family, friends, and neighbors while also cultivating and reinforcing a sense of attachment to Purchena (i.e., relational values). These findings align with prior research emphasizing the positive correlation between social relations, health, and subjective well-being in rural settings (Bieling et al. 2014; Huppert et al. 2004). However, recent studies conducted across Europe indicate that nature, landscape, and access to fresh air are also commonly perceived as significant contributors to well-being in rural areas (Fagerholm et al. 2020). In our study, these factors were found to be less influential, particularly among individuals born in Purchena who now reside elsewhere. This social perception may be influenced by the traditional undervaluation of Spanish semiarid landscapes by the local population (Castro et al. 2011). Such arid landscapes are often viewed as devoid of trees and unproductive, resulting in their diminished importance to locals compared to forested areas and multifunctional landscapes (Castro et al. 2011; El Ghafraoui et al. 2023; Rodríguez-Caballero et al. 2018).

Quality of life was the only parameter uniquely identified as an opportunity to support living in the study area. In contrast, other categories, such as physical and economic security, received equally high responses for recommending and not recommending living there but were perceived as barriers to maintaining human well-being in the study area. In particular, economic prosperity was identified as the greatest barrier for this purpose. Additionally, a lack of public and private services or accessibility issues were highlighted as barriers that make the inequalities that rural regions face visible in comparison with those of urban areas. Paradoxically, all the parameters identified as “barriers” to living in rural areas represent instead the opportunities offered by living in urban areas, especially larger and industrialized cities. Urban areas and cities, in fact, offer stable work or better living conditions, including better services, facilities, and accessibility (Muñoz Ortega 2002; Pinilla et al. 2008). However, our results show how rural inhabitants prioritize other well-being components, such as raising children, security, freedom, or proximity to the landscape, representing the most valued opportunities to inhabit rural areas. Our results indicate that the surveyed population understands that well-being is highly supported by the surrounding environment. Here, we argue that the preservation of the rural population and their livelihoods must be a priority and demand efforts to address economic imbalances in rural lands.

Reconnecting people and rural lands

The decoupling of human activities and practices from natural systems, particularly rural areas, has translated into a weakened connection between people and nature (Riechers et al. 2022), most notably due to a lack of material, cognitive, and emotional connections (Ives et al. 2018; Riechers et al. 2020). As a result, many societies, particularly those living in intensified urban areas, have witnessed a shift in the way individuals interact with nature within urban environments (Marcus et al. 2016). This transformation often manifests as a human–nature relationship characterized by a diminished perception that one’s well-being relies on the natural world and healthy ecosystems (Folke et al. 2011), especially compared to individuals living in rural settings. This phenomenon is also influenced by various aspects associated with urbanization. First, the increasing complexity of urban systems and their environments often provides limited opportunities for direct experiences with nature (Soga and Gaston 2016), thereby disregarding their significant contributions to personal development (de Keijzer et al. 2016), public health (Hartig and Kahn 2016), and the promotion of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors (Yue and Chen 2023). Moreover, the quality of the relationship with nature varies between urban and rural areas, as rural and urban residents may experience nature’s services and disservices with differing intensities and dependencies (Thapa et al. 2023). Our results showed that rural areas represent regions where nature and people are highly connected. Our findings demonstrate how local communities recognize the wide contributions to good quality of life that rural regions provide to people through the formation of multiple values of nature. However, rural regions continue to be abandoned, representing a global process that continues to foster disconnection between people and nature.

In Spain, this phenomenon has been identified as “empty Spain” and has been mostly described as a depopulation transition due to the lack of socioeconomic alternatives for rural people (Bertolini et al. 2008). Previous studies have described four main groups of factors explaining the abandonment of rural areas: (i) out-migration and aging of the population, (ii) remoteness or isolation, (iii) limited educational availability, and (iv) scarce job opportunities (Bertolini et al. 2008). Other intangible factors that may play a role in rural abandonment include subjective aspects such as values (Pedersen and Gram 2018); social perceptions about what is considered success or failure in life (Corbett and Forsey 2017; Farrugia 2016); personal background, family, or friendship relationships (Pretty et al. 2006); and a sense of belonging and attachment, which may represent key aspects for motivating people to live or stay in rural regions (García-Arias et al. 2021). In addition to these factors, a recent study highlighted that personal attachment to place may represent the most important variable influencing rural youth to stay in rural areas (García-Arias et al. 2021). Our results demonstrate that cultural attachment, local identity, and connection to nature may be key elements for people to attach to rural regions. Our findings also show that human–nature disconnection might not be a factor driving the migration of people from rural lands. In contrast, rural communities show very high levels of connectedness to nature, indicating that a wide majority of the local population has a desire to continue living there and will recommend other people to do so.

The Spanish government has recently delineated 130 actions to address abandonment and promote socioeconomic opportunities in rural regions. These actions include the economic diversification of the most disadvantaged areas, the promotion of innovation and full digital connectivity, the strengthening of rural and urban links, the enhancement of the value of the territory and its endogenous growth possibilities, the adequate provision of basic services, or the incorporation of a demographic perspective in the decision-making process of governments at different scales (MTERD 2023). Although these strategies may help to reduce rural abandonment, we still need to include a deep reflection of what quality of life means for people living in urban zones vs. rural areas (FUHEM 2023). Recent calls highlight the need to reconsider measures other than consumerism and economic growth that are not even symptoms of happiness or quality of life (Riechmann 2008). Therefore, other ways to measure well-being need to be prioritized (Aguado et al. 2012). Some studies have shown how urban citizens are starting to choose to move to rural areas (especially after the COVID-19 pandemic) because of the well-being and quality of life that rural regions can provide to them (Mendoza et al. 2020). Compared with urban regions, rural municipalities may provide aspects of well-being for families with children and/or grandchildren (such as kids playing freely in the streets or walking to schools without supervision). Future research on rethinking the concept of quality of life beyond the economic dimension is needed to design new actions that help to reconnect urban populations with rural areas and curb rural abandonment.

Strength and limitations

This study provides an in-depth analysis of how the local public from a rural area in Spain, facing rural abandonment, perceive and relate with their natural environments. The semi-structured survey, conducted to explore social values and preferences, is a representative sample of the municipality of Purchena. However, with the goal to cover the population who lived previously in Purchena but did not currently live there, we designed the same survey by an online format. We shared the online survey through social media groups and WhatsApp group of the town, and obtained a sample that we consider is sufficiently robust. However, since there is no knowledge about the size of this population (local public that do not live in Purchena), and we do not have data to compare it, the results must be interpreted taking this into account. Additionally, the combination of a social sample collected by face-to-face surveys and another sample by online format is not ideal and may bring some bias in the interpretation of the questions. However, the social sampling was designed first (1) to facilitate the COVID-19 pandemic limitations and challenges that may affect how to perform the semi-structured surveys and (2) cover a broad and diverse population connected to the municipality.

Conclusion

In the context of the progressive abandonment of rural lands in Spain, this study explores how connection to nature can play an important role in attaching people to the area. Our results showed a strong connection between local people and nature. This strong HNC is explained by the capacity of locals to form relational values in rural environments over intrinsic and instrumental values. Additionally, philosophical worldviews and emotional attachments to rural lifestyles are the most important dimensions influencing the levels of HNC. However, our results identified key factors that explain the desire of local people to inhabit and not abandon rural regions in southeastern Spain as well as barriers to not abandoning rural environments, including the lack of professional and economic opportunities. Our results suggest that the mitigation of depopulation in rural areas in Spain requires actions to foster land stewardship, address socioeconomic imbalances, and reconsider a good quality of life that rural regions provide.