283
© The Author(s) 2019
M. R. Marselle et al. (eds.), Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate
Change, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02318-8_12
Chapter 12
Biodiversity and Health: Implications
for Conservation
Zoe G. Davies, Martin Dallimer, Jessica C. Fisher, and Richard A. Fuller
Abstract The human health and well-being benefits of contact with nature are
becoming increasingly recognised and well understood, yet the implications of
nature experiences for biodiversity conservation are far less clear. Theoretically,
there are two plausible pathways that could lead to positive conservation outcomes.
The first is a direct win-win scenario where biodiverse areas of high conservation
value are also disproportionately beneficial to human health and well-being, meaning that the two sets of objectives can be simultaneously and directly achieved, as
long as such green spaces are safeguarded appropriately. The second is that experiencing nature can stimulate people’s interest in biodiversity, concern for its fate, and
willingness to take action to protect it, therefore generating conservation gains indirectly. To date, the two pathways have rarely been distinguished and scarcely studied. Here we consider how they may potentially operate in practice, while
acknowledging that the mechanisms by which biodiversity might underpin human
health and well-being benefits are still being determined.
Keywords Extinction of experience · Green space · Human-wildlife interaction ·
Nature connectedness · Protected areas · Well-being
Z. G. Davies (*) · J. C. Fisher
Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and
Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK
e-mail: z.g.davies@kent.ac.uk; jcf22@kent.ac.uk
M. Dallimer
Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds,
Leeds, UK
e-mail: m.dallimer@leeds.ac.uk
R. A. Fuller
School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
e-mail: r.fuller@uq.edu.au
© The Author(s) 2019
M. R. Marselle et al. (eds.), Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate
Change, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02318-8_12
Chapter 12
Biodiversity and Health: Implications
for Conservation
Zoe G. Davies, Martin Dallimer, Jessica C. Fisher, and Richard A. Fuller
Abstract The human health and well-being benefits of contact with nature are
becoming increasingly recognised and well understood, yet the implications of
nature experiences for biodiversity conservation are far less clear. Theoretically,
there are two plausible pathways that could lead to positive conservation outcomes.
The first is a direct win-win scenario where biodiverse areas of high conservation
value are also disproportionately beneficial to human health and well-being, meaning that the two sets of objectives can be simultaneously and directly achieved, as
long as such green spaces are safeguarded appropriately. The second is that experiencing nature can stimulate people’s interest in biodiversity, concern for its fate, and
willingness to take action to protect it, therefore generating conservation gains indirectly. To date, the two pathways have rarely been distinguished and scarcely studied. Here we consider how they may potentially operate in practice, while
acknowledging that the mechanisms by which biodiversity might underpin human
health and well-being benefits are still being determined.
Keywords Extinction of experience · Green space · Human-wildlife interaction ·
Nature connectedness · Protected areas · Well-being
Z. G. Davies (*) · J. C. Fisher
Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and
Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK
e-mail: z.g.davies@kent.ac.uk; jcf22@kent.ac.uk
M. Dallimer
Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds,
Leeds, UK
e-mail: m.dallimer@leeds.ac.uk
R. A. Fuller
School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
e-mail: r.fuller@uq.edu.au