Montreal/Kolkata, 13
February 2015 – A ground-breaking report on biodiversity and health, launched
today at the 14th World Congress on Public Health, in Kolkata, India, shows the
significant contribution of biodiversity and ecosystem services to better human
health.
The report, Connecting
Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health, demonstrates that the
relationship between biodiversity and human health is extensive and complex. It
outlines the ways that the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity has
positive impacts on human health, including through impacts on water and air quality,
nutrition, non-communicable and infectious diseases, and medicines, among
others.
Prepared by the
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) and the World
Health Organization (WHO), the report features contributions from numerous
partners and over 100 experts, including Bioversity International, COHAB
Initiative, EcoHealth Alliance, Harvard School of Public Health, United Nations
University, Wildlife Conservation Society’s Health & Ecosystems: Analysis
of Linkages and many others.
“We hope this joint
report will increase awareness and understanding not only of the intrinsic
value of biodiversity, but also as a critical foundation for sustainable
development, and for human health and well-being,” said Dr. Maria Neira, WHO
Director for Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health.
“In particular, it should serve as a useful reference for the definition of the
sustainable development goals and the post-2015 development agenda, which
represent a unique opportunity to promote integrated approaches to protect
human and planetary health.”
Braulio Ferreira de
Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and
Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, said “Despite the clear role
that biodiversity plays for human health, and thus for the Sustainable
Development Goals, this linkage is not being made in policy forums. Hopefully
this new report will help shed some light on this critical issue.”
The report provides
specific examples of the relationship for a number of issue areas including:
water, air quality and human health; biodiversity, food production and
nutrition; microbial diversity and non-communicable disease; infectious
diseases; medicines, including traditional medicine; physical, mental and
cultural well-being; pharmaceuticals and biodiversity; climate change and
disaster risk reduction; and sustainable consumption and production. Highlights
of the report include:
Biodiversity,
Food Production and Nutrition: Biodiversity is the basis for crops,
livestock and farmed fish and other parts of agricultural production and
aquaculture. Genetic diversity within these ensures continuing improvements in
food production, allows adaptation to current needs and ensures adaptability to
future ones including climate change. The loss of biodiversity in
agro-ecosystems is increasing the vulnerability and reducing the sustainability
of many production systems with negative effects on human health. The report
also points out that a diversity of species, varieties and breeds, as well as
wild food and medicinal sources (fish, plants, bushmeat, insects and fungi) underpins
dietary diversity, good nutrition and health. For this reason, reduced access
to and global declines in terrestrial, marine and freshwater systems will
present major public health challenges for resource-dependent human
populations, particularly in low- and middle- income countries. Some dietary
patterns that offer substantial health benefits, such as diets characterised by
reduced meat consumption could also reduce climate change and pressures on
biodiversity.
Microbial
Diversity and non-communicable diseases: Humans, like most
living things, have a microbiota - ecological communities of commensal,
symbiotic and pathogenic microorganisms that literally share our body space and
outnumber our human cells ten to one. The majority of these microbes provide
vital functions for human survival. The report points out that interaction with
microbes present in the environment are an important part of the healthy
maintenance of our human microbiota. Reduced contact of people with the natural
environment and biodiversity, and biodiversity loss in the wider environment,
leads to reduced diversity in the human microbiota, which itself can lead to
immune dysfunction and disease. Considering microbial diversity as an ecosystem
service provider may contribute to bridging the chasm between ecology and
medicine/immunology, by considering microbial diversity in public health and
conservation strategies aimed at maximising services obtained from ecosystems.
Infectious
diseases:
Biodiversity plays a complex role in disease emergence, with benefits in some
contexts and threats to human health in others. Human changes to and
degradation of ecosystems, such as modified landscapes, intensive agriculture
and antimicrobial use, may increase the risk of infectious disease
transmission. While areas of high biodiversity may, in some cases, contain a
high number of potential pathogens and contribute to the spread of disease, in
some contexts biodiversity may also serve as a protective factor for preventing
or reducing exposure to infectious agents.
Conclusions: The
report concludes with recommendation for health and biodiversity strategies. It
calls for the creation of coherent cross-sectoral strategies that ensure that
biodiversity and health linkages are widely recognized, valued, and reflected
in national public health and biodiversity conservation policies. They also
need to be coordinated with programs and plans of other relevant sectors. Their
implementation could be a joint responsibility of ministries of health,
environment and other relevant ministries responsible for environmental health
programmes and national biodiversity strategies and action plans. In all cases,
they should be developed and implemented with the involvement of local
communities. Given the interconnected nature of these challenges, there is a
need for policy makers to coordinate their responses. The report suggests that
the solution lies in uniting work in social and natural sciences through
integrative and interdisciplinary approaches such as the ecosystem, ecohealth,
and One Health approach, in order to develop cooperation and mutual
understanding that can lead to the production of knowledge and recommendations
that can be used by policy makers and practitioners
The Executive Summary
of the report is available online at: www.cbd.int/en/health/stateofknowledge
The full volume will
be released in the weeks ahead and will be available at the above website.
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