For decades conservation professionals have been working with governments, smallholders, businesses, and each other to protect and restore nature. For some the primary mission is climate change; for others it is food security, saving threatened species, or empowering Indigenous people and local communities. Research is starting to demonstrate that this work should also include health professionals and attend to the risk of acute and chronic human health disasters.
We know that, the cause and effect between disease and deforestation are far from consistent. The complexity of disease and the complexity of landscapes themselves create a tangled web of opposing and reinforcing interactions. In many places, deforestation or forest degradation increases human risk of malaria or other mosquito-borne diseases. In other places, the same conditions that scientists predict would increase disease transmission do not seem to apply.
With a decent amount of evidence to date, it’s clear that there are some tangible, verified, and lasting connections between human health and the extent and condition of forests. These include at least six outcomes in dietary health, environmental exposure (e.g. air pollution), communicable diseases, hazard risk reductions, mental health, and access to natural compounds or medicinal products.
The protection, conservation, and restoration of forests and their broader landscapes contribute to positive human health outcomes for each of these six components. Forests are often critical in supplying micronutrients through access to wild foods, can mitigate air pollution in some contexts, and can provide the necessary habitat and biodiversity to limit human exposure to and infection by viruses and pathogens present in widespread animal populations. Forests can prevent excessive runoff and reduce ambient temperatures, have a demonstrated ability to help people reduce stress and manage mental health, and are the greatest library of natural compounds with potential and realized medicinal products in the universe.
The conservation and restoration of forests is a necessary component of a future where humanity is better able to manage and cope with the emergence of new infectious diseases. Without landscapes that balance the needs of both nature and people, the world will continue only to react to global health crises instead of preventing them.
