Protecting Ecosystems Through Nature-based Solutions for Improved Public Health

The relationship between the natural world and human health is foundational. From the food we eat and the water we drink to the air we breathe and the environments where we live, human survival depends on the health of ecosystems.

This reality underpins the growing global focus on nature-based solutions for improved public health. Protecting biodiversity and restoring ecosystem functions are environmental priorities and public health imperatives.

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) highlighted this urgency in its official statement during the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), calling for a stronger global commitment to ecosystem protection and nature-positive climate strategies.

The Invisible Infrastructure Supporting Human Health

The interconnectedness between natural and human systems is well-documented and observable in the sheer breadth of our interactions with nature. Ecosystems provide food, water, shelter, and virtually every critical resource needed for human survival and prosperity.

The health benefits derived from ecosystems are delivered through biodiversity, species composition, and complex ecological processes performed by natural systems.

These processes enable ecosystems to deliver what are commonly known as ecosystem services, typically grouped into four categories:

• Provisioning services: such as food, freshwater, and medicinal resources

• Regulating services: including climate regulation, flood control, and disease regulation

• Supporting services: such as nutrient cycling and soil formation

• Cultural services: including recreation, mental wellbeing, and social connection

More recently, these benefits have also been described as nature’s contributions to people, emphasizing how ecosystem health directly influences human well-being.

When Ecosystems Fail, Public Health Suffers

When ecosystems cannot function optimally, the consequences are immediate and far-reaching for human health.

Examples illustrate how ecological degradation directly undermines well-being:

• Soil microbial depletion reduces the nutritional quality and yield of agricultural crops.

• Pollinator decline disrupts plant reproduction, threatening food production and medicinal resources.

• Deforestation destroys habitats needed to maintain biodiversity and ecological balance.

• Ocean pollution damages marine ecosystems and diminishes cultural, recreational, and psychological benefits associated with coastal environments.

Each of these disruptions weakens the ecological systems that support human life.

Environmental Degradation Is Reversing Public Health Gains

Over the past 70 years, economic and technological growth, often described as the “great acceleration,” has lifted millions from poverty and extended life expectancy worldwide. Yet these gains have come at a profound environmental cost.

Because public health is fundamentally intertwined with ecosystem health, environmental degradation threatens to reverse decades of progress.

Research shows that ecological breakdown can:

• Reduce the nutrient content and productivity of food systems

• Harm agriculture-based livelihoods

• Trigger severe mental health consequences, particularly among Indigenous communities

• Disrupt planetary systems necessary for climate stability

These intersecting pressures illustrate how environmental damage represents a systemic threat to human survival and well-being.

Biodiversity Loss and the Rising Burden of Disease

Even when examined individually, ecological disruptions can have enormous public health consequences.

For example:

• Pollinator loss could place 71 million people at risk of vitamin A deficiency and 173 million people at risk of folate deficiency, contributing to 1.42 million additional deaths annually from malnutrition and non-communicable diseases.

• Urban areas without adequate green space experience higher air pollution, more frequent heat waves, elevated stress levels, and increased rates of non-communicable diseases.

• Deforestation has been linked to increased waterborne diseases due to reduced flood control and contamination of surface water sources.

• Tropical forest loss increases interactions between humans and wildlife, raising the risk of emerging infectious diseases that could trigger epidemics or pandemics.

These examples demonstrate how ecosystem health functions as a protective barrier for global public health.

Climate Change Is Intensifying Ecosystem and Health Risks

At COP27, global discussions emphasized the accelerating impacts of climate change on ecosystems and human wellbeing.

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report highlights that climate change is already affecting:

• Marine and coastal ecosystems

• Terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems

• Global food production systems

These changes are expected to produce cascading public health impacts.

For example:

• Climate change could increase the number of people at risk of hunger by 8 to 80 million by mid-century, with the highest impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Central America.

• Extreme temperature, rainfall variability, droughts, flooding, and sea-level rise will likely increase outbreaks of aquatic pathogens in coastal populations.

• Shifts in ecosystem conditions and vector ranges are expected to significantly increase the global burden of vector-borne diseases.

In many regions, these combined pressures may ultimately render areas increasingly difficult or impossible to inhabit.

Environmental and Social Determinants of Health Are Interconnected

The forces driving environmental degradation are closely tied to the same social and economic factors that shape health outcomes.

As a result, the current socio-ecological crisis is also a crisis of inequality. Communities that contribute the least to environmental damage often face the greatest health consequences.

This dynamic places particular burdens on:

• Vulnerable populations

• Indigenous communities

• Low-income regions

• Future generations

Delaying action is therefore not an option. Protecting biodiversity and restoring ecosystem functions are essential to safeguarding public health worldwide.

Why Nature-based Solutions for Improved Public Health Matter

A biosensitive approach to development recognizes that human wellbeing depends on living in balance with natural systems.

Transitioning toward a nature-positive economic framework can simultaneously strengthen ecosystems and support economic development. The World Economic Forum estimates that such a transition could generate $10.1 trillion in annual business value and create 395 million jobs by 2030.

Nature-based solutions for improved public health include strategies such as:

• Reforestation and afforestation

• Habitat protection and ecosystem restoration

• Regenerative and restorative agricultural practices

• Mangrove conservation

• Expansion of urban green spaces

• Protection of natural carbon sinks such as forests, oceans, wetlands, and peatlands

These approaches strengthen ecosystem resilience while reducing climate and health risks.

Indigenous Knowledge Is Essential for Sustainable Ecosystem Management

Effective environmental stewardship also requires recognizing the leadership and knowledge of Indigenous communities.

Indigenous groups have long practiced forms of land stewardship that promote biodiversity, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable environmental management.

Supporting Indigenous leadership in conservation efforts ensures that community-based solutions remain central to long-term environmental resilience.

A Global Call to Protect Nature for Public Health

The WFPHA supports the United Nations’ warning that humanity is “losing our suicidal war against nature” and emphasizes that the world faces a stark choice: collective action or collective suicide.

In response, the organization affirms the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment and calls for global commitment to nature-based climate solutions and ecosystem protection.

This call to action aligns with the principles of One Health, which recognizes the deep interdependence between human, animal, and environmental health, an interconnection highlighted clearly by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Path Forward

Protecting ecosystems is not solely an environmental responsibility; it is one of the most powerful public health interventions available.

Nature-based solutions for improved public health offer a pathway to:

• Reduce climate risks

• Prevent emerging diseases

• Strengthen food and water security

• Improve mental and physical well-being

• Protect the health of future generations

The global public health community now faces a decisive moment. Acting to protect biodiversity and restore ecosystems is essential to ensuring a healthy and sustainable future for humanity.