Ecological and Human Health are Connected

This team’s research has helped make clear that human health can decline when local and global ecosystems are degraded due to agriculture and aquaculture, urbanization and development, deforestation, overexploitation, and other conservation threats. Inversely, when human communities are unhealthy, people often cannot prioritize sustainability, leading to further ecosystem degradation. This cycle illustrates the interconnectedness and interdependence of ecological and human health.

Win–Win Solutions

The team collected examples of solutions that both reduce infectious human diseases and improve ecosystem integrity, using a systematic literature review and evidence synthesis. They found 47 proposed solutions and critically evaluated each example. Most solutions had some evidence gaps regarding safety, feasibility, and prior success, but most were also promising targets for future adaptive implementation. The group developed a decision hierarchy based on 11 viability criteria that can be used by researchers, funders, and decision-makers to evaluate and compare amongst potential Planetary Health interventions.

Intervention Example

In Indonesian Borneo, a key driver of forest loss is illegal logging conducted by individuals trying to meet their basic needs, especially health care needs. A non-profit organization built a clinic to improve rural health care and provided training in alternative livelihoods. Over the past decade, this community-derived solution has both improved human health and reduced illegal logging and forest carbon loss.