Connecting Global Priorities Biodiversity and Human Health

we interact with other life forms in a myriad of
ways that is life itself; indeed, without life forms
there would be no life on the planet, including our
own. A different cultural perspective might see the
interlinkages between biodiversity and health as
important to explore because of a perceived loss of
biodiversity, and the environmental degradation
that has arisen as part of modern industrial
societies, rapid population growth and the
urban/agricultural settings of the contemporary
anthropocene.²
Accordingly, this chapter examines the
interlinkages between biodiversity and mental
health, including with consideration for its
social and cultural dimensions and the way these
components of human health and well-being also
relate to cultural ecosystem services. In light of
the relationship between physical inactivity and
NCDs, this chapter also examines the potential
links between biodiversity and physical fitness,
including in urban settings. As biodiversity is
also central to cultures, cultural traditions and
overall well-being, building on the findings of the
chapters on traditional medicine and nutrition in
this volume, this often-neglected dimension of
health will be discussed in the fourth section of
this chapter.
2. Biodiversity and mental health
Mental health is defined by WHO as “a state of
well-being in which every individual realizes his
or her own abilities, can cope with the normal
stresses of life, can work productively and
fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her
or his community” (WHO 2001). In addition to an
increase in the incidence of NCDs such as as heart
disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
stroke and cancer, mental disorders contribute to a
significant proportion of the global disease burden
(Beaglehole and Bonita 2008; Beaglehole et al.
2011). Depression alone accounts for 4.3% of the
global burden of disease and is among the largest
single causes of disability worldwide, particularly
for women (WHO 2013).
Between 1990 and 2010 alone, major depressive
disorders increased by 37% (Murray et al. 2012).
People with schizophrenia and psychosis suffer
from poorer physical health and die on average
15–20 years earlier than the general population
(Schizophrenia Commission 2012). This is
aggravated by sedentary lifestyles, poor diets,
smoking and weight gain from antipsychotic
medications and antidepressants, in turn
associated with an increased risk of obesity,
cardiovascular disease and diabetes (Schizophrenia
Commission 2012).
Promoting physical activity in people and knowing
more about where people with mental health
problems should recreate could, therefore, be more
of a public health priority. Little is known about
the types of environments that can best support
physical activity in this population or what types
of environment alleviate – or aggravate – psychotic
symptoms.
Green spaces in urban settings are linked to stress
reduction (Roe et al. 2013; Aspinall et al. 2013;
Ward Thompson et al. 2012), neighbourhood
social cohesion (Maas et al. 2009), reductions
in crime and violence (Branas et al. 2011; Kuo
and Sullivan 2001; Garvin et al. 2013), and a
range of other health benefits associated with
psychological, cognitive and physiological health
(see Box 1; for recent reviews, see Sandifer et al.
2015; Logan 2015 and Rook et al. 2013). Green
space and tree canopy percentage have also been
found to have a strong inverse correlation with
objective measures of depression, anxiety and
stress (Beyer et al. 2014)
There is strong evidence for the benefits of
interaction with nature – including domestic
animals, and wild animals in wild settings – in
treatments for depression, anxiety and behavioural
problems, particularly in children and teenagers
(e.g. Kuo and Taylor 2004; Markevych et al. 2014;
Wells 2014; Roe and Aspinall 2011a). It has been
argued that contact with nature is important for
² Pretty et al. (2008) embraced these different perspectives in the following way: “There is a common recognition around the
world that the diversity of life involves both the living forms (biological diversity) and the world views and cosmologies of
what life means (cultural diversity).”
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