How does biodiversity affect our health? Ten research projects funded by the 2018 BiodivHealth programme explored this complex question, revealing biodiversity’s vital role in supporting the health of people, animals, and ecosystems. Explore their key findings and practical recommendations for building resilience in three newly released policy briefs.
Biodiversity promotes healthy agricultural systems
Biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes is a critical threat to food security, ecosystem stability, and human health. Agriculture intensification severely reduces critical ecosystem services, including pest control, pollination, and soil fertility, which leads to cascading effects on crop productivity and nutritional quality.
This brief presents findings from FUNPROD, NutriB2, SuppressSoil, and VOODOO on the role of species and functional diversity in the health of agricultural systems, specifically the role of diversity in providing the unique nutritional requirements for wild bee health, reducing the risk of pathogen spillover to wild bees, and the importance of soil microbial diversity to protect crops from disease and insect pests. The brief emphasizes the urgency of protecting and enhancing biodiversity within agricultural systems to secure food production and support the health of ecosystems and people.
- Read the policy brief: Biodiversity promotes healthy agricultural systems and benefits humans
- Watch videos presenting the objectives and outcomes of the projects involved:
Biodiversity mitigates health risks
Recent decades have seen a dramatic increase in the emergence of new infectious diseases, most of which originate from wildlife. This increase has been attributed to human-driven degradation of natural ecosystems and the resulting dramatic decline in biodiversity. Biodiversity is the source of most infectious diseases, with more than 60% of human pathogens originating in animals (zoonoses). At the same time, biodiversity is essential for protecting human health, as intact ecosystems control the spread of pathogens. Biodiversity can also reduce the prevalence and transmission of some pathogens.
This brief presents findings from ANTIVERSA, BIODIV-AFREID, BioRodDis, DiMoC, Dr.FOREST, and SuppressSoil on how biodiversity can mitigate the propagation and spread of infectious diseases, including zoonotic diseases, vector-borne diseases, and antimicrobial diseases. It also examines how human disturbance of nature alters ecosystems and the ability of biodiversity to protect human health.
- Read the policy brief: Biodiversity mitigates health risks
- Watch videos presenting the objectives and outcomes of the projects involved:
Landscape diversity enhances human health
Landscape diversity refers to the variety and spatial arrangement of different ecosystems and landforms within a specific area. It supports species diversity and is essential for ecological processes and functions, thereby playing a crucial role in the ecosystem services that nature provides for human health and well-being. However, significant land use changes and intensification have led to landscape homogenisation, reducing biodiversity and the benefits it provides.
This brief presents findings from ANTIVERSA, Dr.FOREST, and FUNPROD on how diverse agricultural and forest landscapes enhance human physical and mental health and, conversely, how even small changes in land use can introduce health risks such as tick-borne diseases and antimicrobial resistance into the environment. The brief further suggests practices that can promote landscape heterogeneity to improve both biodiversity conservation and human health outcomes.
- Read the policy brief: Landscape diversity enhances human health
- Watch the videos presenting the objectives and outcomes of the projects involved:
