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Nature Soundmap: Discover the Natural Sounds of the Earth

The Nature Soundmap is an interactive map that allows listeners to explore immersive natural soundscapes.

Collected by the recordists and artists of the Earth.fm family, these sounds come from every corner of the planet.

What types of sounds are featured on the soundmap?

The Earth.fm soundmap features immersive sounds ranging from the Serengeti’s lions and hippos to crickets along Nevada’s Niobrara River, and from the magical sounds of spring in the Himalayan foothills to those of dawn on a Swedish island

You can listen to the calm raindrops in a jungle of India, coyotes in the Mexican Sierra, evening birds on the coast of Hawaii, or the gentle waves of the Albanian Riviera.

The nature soundmap is a fantastic collection of the sounds of our Earth, offering access to the diverse, undisturbed wildlife from beyond our screens — whether for relaxation or education.

How to use the soundmap?

Heart-shaped placemarks on the soundmap each give access to a different, unique recording of natural sounds from that area.

You can also use the following filters:

  • Mood
  • Duration
  • Predominant Sound
  • Habitat
  • Recordist

These will narrow your search down to only show, for instance, joyful-sounding recordings or soundscapes from a specific geographical region.

Our hopes for the nature soundmap

Human well-being

Natural soundscapes have a positive impact on human well-being

We aren’t always able to experience nature first-hand, but these sound recordings, available on the map, provide a wonderful substitute, whether you wish to imagine walking in a forest in winter or listening to a calm creek while camping.

And if you are more excited by extremes, find your happy place while listening to rare specialties, like the sounds of an active volcano recorded from the crater edge, or a thunderstorm in the driest desert on Earth, the Atacama.

Preserving the natural world

Biodiverse soundscapes recorded without anthropophonic sounds are increasingly scarce, as the ecosystems that produce them are continually decimated by humans and industry, agriculture, and urban sprawl. 

For this reason, we do not only collect and curate soundscapes, we also highlight charities that work to heal and preserve the natural world in the regions where the recordings were made.

Read more about this mission, and our list of recommended charities.

Learning experience

As well as offering the best possible listening experience, this soundmap also provides a unique learning opportunity for students. 

When learning about the world’s different geographic regions or the wildlife which inhabits them, children may not be able to visit but their teachers can use the soundmap’s recordings to help them engage with these topics. 

The auditory journey from a typical classroom to morning in the Amazon rainforest and other sounds from nature can also benefit mental health, according to a study by the University of Sussex.

Earth.fm is a completely free streaming service of 900+ nature sounds from around the world, offering natural soundscapes and guided meditations for people who wish to listen to nature, relax, and become more connected. Launched in 2022, Earth.fm is a non-profit and a 1% for the Planet Environmental Partner.

Check out our recordings of nature ambience from sound recordists and artists spanning the globe, our thematic playlists of immersive soundscapes and our Wind Is the Original Radio podcast.

You can join the Earth.fm family by signing up for our newsletter of weekly inspiration for your precious ears, or become a member to enjoy the extra Earth.fm features and goodies and support us on our mission.

Subscription fees contribute to growing our library of authentic nature sounds, research into topics like noise pollution and the connection between nature and mental wellbeing, as well as funding grants that support emerging nature sound recordists from underprivileged communities.

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