5 7 Nature Restoration and Health and Well being.pdf

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WHY IS NATURE RESTORATION
CRITICAL TO IMPROVING HUMAN
HEALTH AND WELL-BEING?
Publication date:
December 2022
Authors:
Maren Gvein, McKenna Davis (Ecologic Institute)
Well-functioning ecosystems are critical for ensuring human health and well-being through the provisioning
of key services (e.g. climate regulation, nutrient cycling and resource provisioning) and wider physical, mental
and psychosocial co-benefits [1]. The delivery of these services is more important than ever, under threat
from ecosystem degradation and extreme weather events and disasters.
The most obvious direct consequences for physical health are deaths caused by these events. Over 200 deaths
were associated with floods in Germany and surrounding areas in 2021 [2], while around 130,000 people die
annually in Europe due to heatwaves [3] and about half a million [4] as a result of poor environmental quality,
such as air and water pollution. As for mental health, consequences include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
and depression related to displacement and property loss, loss of labor for farmers due to drought, heat-
related stress, and (eco-)anxiety [5]–[7]. Other chronic diseases, stress, and sleep disturbances are also related
to long-term exposure to environmental noise [8].
Nature  restoration  has  the  potential  to  generate  healthier  living
environments  for  people  and  mitigate  physical,  mental  and  social  health
threats  through  the  protection  and  enhancement  of  biodiversity  and  the
promotion of healthier and more resilient ecosystems [9], [10].
Bihor County, Romania, Photo by Larisa Birta

WHY IS NATURE RESTORATION CRITICAL TO IMPROVING HUMAN HEALTH AND WELL-BEING?
HOW  CAN  THE  NATURE  RESTORATION  LAW  CONTRIBUTE  TO
IMPROVED HUMAN HEALTH AND WELL-BEING IN EUROPE?
The  NRL  proposal  [11]  sets  the  basis  for  ensuring  long-term  ecosystem  and  societal  resilience.
‘Protecting human health’ (from Article 191 in the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union) is
one of four objectives of the NRL. The following articles of the proposal are of particular relevance for
human health:
•  Restoration of freshwater ecosystems is important for water safety and clean drinking water (article 4).
•  Enhanced biodiversity in terrestrial, coastal, freshwater, and marine ecosystems can play a crucial
for both mental and physical health. Ecosystem restoration can further contribute to build resilience to
extreme events such as floods or drought (article 4 and 5).
•  Restoration of marine and agricultural ecosystems is important to ensure food safety and nutritious
food supply from sea and land, and for improved mental health for fishing workers and farmers (arti-
cle 5 and 9).
•  Increased green spaces and tree canopy in cities, towns, and in infrastructure is crucial for good air
quality and to reduce heat stress in cities, with large impacts on mental and physical health (article 6).
•  Restoration of pollinator populations plays a crucial role in the supply of nutritious food… (article 8).
•  Biodiversity in forest ecosystems and nature in general have high importance for mental and physi- cal
health. Forests are also important for increased air quality and evapotranspiration (article 10).
People  living  in  (peri-)urban  areas  are  frequently  exposed  to  environmental  risks  such  as  air  and  noise
pollution, stress from traffic and population density, and heat urban islands. Exposure to urban green and
blue areas (such as urban forests, ponds, etc.) can have significant health benefits [11], [12], including reduced
noise exposure and cleaner air as well as fostering stress relief. Blue and green urban and rural areas can
serve  as  positive  contributions  both  as  treatment  for  mental  health  challenges  (through  for  example
ecotherapy [13]) and as a recreational purpose [3], [12]. Direct exposure to a natural environment (compared
to a busy urban environment) can decrease the activity of amygdala in the human brain [11], which is the
opposite of the expected reaction for a person in a stressed situation. As such, it is an emerging trend in some
places to prescribe birdwatching and walks in nature as treatment for chronic illnesses [14]. Increased forest
and  vegetation  cover  can  also  cool  and  regulate  the  microclimate  through  transpiration.  One  study
suggests that in Norway, one tree planted is foreseen to mitigate the heat exposure of one heat sensitive
person every day [15].
Within rural areas, nature restoration can contribute to enhanced biodiversity in above and below ground
habitats, increased evapotranspiration, more diverse landscapes, and increased carbon stocks [16]. Related
health benefits include increased food safety more nutritious food, as well as resilience to  droughts, and
thereby  enhanced  and  more  stable  working  conditions  for  farmers  [17].  Agroecology,  which  is  closely
related to nature restoration, is an emerging concept associated with stronger food systems and increased
well-being  in  farming  communities,  as  well  as  enhanced  biodiversity  and  healthy  soil  [18].  Increased
vegetation cover is also an important measure to avoid freshwater toxicity, where green infrastructure could
contribute to a 50-80% reduction in polluted run-off to rivers [19]. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the
NRL has an important role to play in building resilience to future communicable diseases and potential
pandemics  and  in  implementing  the  One  Health  approach  [20] within  the  EU  policy  landscape  –  linking
ecosystem, human and animal health.

2

References
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11.  S.  Sudimac,  V.  Sale,  and  S.  Kühn,  ‘How  nature  nurtures:  Amygdala  activity  decreases  as  the  result  of  a  one-hour  walk  in  nature’,  Mol.
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Public Health, vol. 8, pp. 604440–604440, 2020, doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.604440.
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45054-64214, 2022.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not
necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor CINEA can be held
responsible for them.
These  policy  briefs  were  written  by  IEEP  and
Ecologic Institute in the Think Sustainable Europe
  Network  in  response  to  the  proposed  EU  nature
restoration law.