Biodiversity Stream

Background: Evidence suggests that environmental degradation can have adverse health effects. Public health practice enhances populations health, while promoting equity and individual autonomy. Conservationists use many strategies to protect natural systems; interventions that provide social co-benefits are becoming increasingly popular. Some have suggested that there may be synergies between public health and conservation. However, it is uncertain what mechanisms link the two, and in particular how conservation interventions indirectly change people's vulnerability to health risks. Also, most studies in this area have looked at changes in disease incidence, neglecting other dimensions of health. For instance, there is limited evidence describing how conservation interventions affect subjectively experienced health or mental wellbeing. Furthermore, most of this research has focused on protected areas. Yet, conservation includes a broad range of activities. Habitat restoration is likely to be increasingly important in efforts to avoid the high extinction debt that many counties face. This will involve substantial land-use changes in areas inhabitant by people whose health and wellbeing is embedded in socio-ecological systems.

Objectives: My research asks:
-What is the evidence for mechanisms linking conservation and public health?
-In what ways might the management of Harapan Rainforest, Sumatra, influence subjectively experienced health?
-Do natural revegetation and active reforestation of Harapan Rainforest reduce the risk of diarrhoea among vulnerable groups? What implications does this have for the planned restoration efforts under the 2017-2030 Masterplan for Renewable Resources-Driven Green Growth in south Sumatra?
-Is protection of Harapan Rainforest associated with differences in access to land and forest products and nutritional indicators, and how does this affect mental health?
Methods: This research will be conducted around Harapan Rainforest, in south Sumatra. I will combine a range of qualitative, quantitative and spatial approaches. For instance, Witzels Problem Centred Interview approach will be used to generate and analyse qualitative data whilst baysian networks will be used to analyse household and remotely sensed data.

Relevance: Managers of Harapan Rainforest are testing reforestation activities that may inform the 2017-2030 Renewable Resources-Driven Green Growth plan for south Sumatra. This program, and similar restoration efforts more globally, will contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the 2011 Bonn Challenge, which will restore large areas of habitat globally. This research will illustrate the ways that these reforestation efforts may affect several aspects of health. It will also indicate potential synergies between conservation and public health through habit restoration.