Connecting Global Priorities Biodiversity and Human Health

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12. Contribution of biodiversity and
green spaces to mental and physical
1. Introduction
Examining the interlinkages between biodiversity,
mental health and health in all its dimensions as
defined by the World Health Organization (WHO)
(“a state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being and not merely the absence of disease
or infirmity”) demands that we explore the
interrelationships among biological and cultural
diversity, and between physical and mental health,
to foreground integrative and interdisciplinary
approaches and research that draws from different
disciplines, and that we are able to accommodate
diverse perspectives. Integrative approaches that
explicitly engage with biodiversity, physical and
mental health, along with cultural and ecosystem
dynamics, continue to emerge in fields such
as ecosystem approaches to health, Ecohealth
and One Health, with a growing focus on
interrelationships among the health of humans,
animals and other species in the context of social–
ecological systems (see, for example, Charron
2012; Waltner-Toews 2004; Webb et al. 2010;
Wilcox et al. 2012). At the same time, scientific
and clinical studies drawing from other fields
such as immunology can contribute invaluable
insights into these multifaceted dimensions. The
connections between biodiversity, mental health
and physical activity are particularly relevant in
the context of a shifting global burden of disease,
in which noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are
the most rapidly rising challenge to global public
health.
As discussed in the sections that follow, contact
with nature may not only be associated with
positive mental health benefits, but can also
promote physical activity and contribute to overall
well-being. Biodiversity can have both direct and
indirect benefits for physical and mental health
(Pretty et al. 2011), just as it can sometimes pose
direct and indirect health threats, particularly
when unsustainably managed or compounded by
global threats such as climate change.
Other indirect benefits, not traditionally
considered in the global public health agenda,
include the contribution of biodiversity to the
provision and sustenance of a range of cultural
ecosystem services such as spiritual values,
traditional food cultures, educational values
and social relations.¹ If our cultural perspective
assumes that “biodiversity” refers to “all life
forms” then as humans we are inseparable, and
¹ From the Agenda 21 for Culture: cultural diversity is defined as “a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual,
emotional, moral and spiritual existence.” (Agenda 21 for Culture 2004). Based on this view, the starting proposition, that
there are linkages between biodiversity and human health, is more adequately framed by examining the diversity of life in
toto, rather than separate nature from culture.
200 Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health