‘You can’t love something that isn’t there’: readers on how the sounds of nature have changed around them

A place to sit and listen to nature? A bench in the Sonian Forest in Belgium. Photograph: Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

The sounds of our natural world are changing dramatically. Earth’s wildlife populations have plunged by 69% in fewer than 50 years. Fading along with them are many of the distinctive soundscapes of nature: the night-time calls of mammals, morning chorus of birds and buzz of insects.

This global story is stitched together by many local stories of loss. We spoke to readers about how natural sounds are changing where they live.