Tuesday, 25 September 2012


Introduction
Several scholars all over the world have over the year researched into the importance of biodiversity to health, in this presentation, the work of some of this scholars will be examined and as much as possible there will be an attempt to define biodiversity, health and human wellbeing as well as, an examination of the concept of who a tourist is and how biodiversity comes into play in tourism.
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity underpins life on Earth, and refers to the variety found in biota from genetic makeup of plants and animals to cultural diversity.
Biodiversity, as defined by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), is ‘the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems’ (1992).
The CBD, which came into force in 1993, is a legally binding commitment to conserve biodiversity and its adoption has had a huge impact on public and political interest in the meaning and importance of biodiversity.

What does biodiversity mean for human health?
People depend on biodiversity in their daily lives, in ways that are not always apparent or appreciated. Human health ultimately depends upon ecosystem products and services (such as availability of fresh water, food and fuel sources) which are requisite for good human health and productive livelihoods. Biodiversity loss can have significant direct human health impacts if ecosystem services are no longer adequate to meet social needs. Indirectly, changes in ecosystem services affect livelihoods, income, local migration and, on occasion, may even cause political conflict.
Humans receive a wealth of benefits from ecosystems. These are described as ‘ecosystem services’ and include physical products, such as food and medicines, as well as useful services such as pollination of crop plants and climate regulation. Many ecosystem services do not have market prices and their economic value can be estimated only by indirect methods.
Biodiversity plays a number of important roles in helping ensure humans have a secure supply of food. For example, loss of genetic diversity within staple crops represents a threat to human health when their potential for resistance against disease, pests, drought and other natural or manmade disasters is considered. Worldwide, the diversity
of agricultural crops – measured in terms of their genetic differences – has diminished rapidly in the last two decades, dwindling to a quarter of what it was in 1990 (European
Commission, 2011). Pollinators, including bees, are essential for ensuring the
genetic diversity of plants, including agricultural crops. Relying on a small number of pollinator species to carry out these services is risky given recent declines and it is therefore crucial to protect a wide range, including wild pollinator populations
(Potts, et al., 2006). In turn, many different species make up the complex ecosystems that support pollinators and careful management of natural and agricultural habitats is required to protect their biodiversity. Biodiversity within and at the edges of agricultural land often ensures against pest infestations that could threaten food supply (Diaz, et al., 2005). For example, maize grown together with peanuts reduces the impact of stemborer, an important agricultural pest in central and Southern Europe, and cacao
grown near to natural forests seems to suffer less from pest infestations.
Microbial biodiversity also affects food security and consequently human wellbeing. For example, soil microorganisms carry out important ecosystem services by recycling organic waste and converting nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form that plants can absorb. Their ecosystem services thus make soil more productive for agriculture and it
is estimated that microbes are responsible for fixing over 140 million tonnes of nitrogen each year, the economic value of which has been estimated to be around €63 billion (Brussaard, et al., 2007).
Additionally, biophysical diversity of microorganisms, flora and fauna provides extensive knowledge which carry important benefits for biological, health, and pharmacological sciences. Significant medical and pharmacological discoveries are made through greater understanding of the earth's biodiversity. Loss in biodiversity may limit discovery of potential treatments for many diseases and health problems.
Threats to biodiversity and health
There is growing concern about the health consequences of biodiversity loss and change. Biodiversity changes affect ecosystem functioning and significant disruptions of ecosystems can result in life sustaining ecosystem goods and services. Biodiversity loss also means that we are losing, before discovery, many of nature's chemicals and genes, of the kind that have already provided humankind with enormous health benefits. Specific pressures and linkages between health and biodiversity include:
Nutritional impact of biodiversity
Biodiversity plays a crucial role in human nutrition through its influence on world food production, as it ensures the sustainable productivity of soils and provides the genetic resources for all crops, livestock, and marine species harvested for food. Access to a sufficiency of a nutritious variety of food is a fundamental determinant of health.
Nutrition and biodiversity are linked at many levels: the ecosystem, with food production as an ecosystem service; the species in the ecosystem and the genetic diversity within species. Nutritional composition between foods and among varieties/cultivars/breeds of the same food can differ dramatically, affecting micronutrient availability in the diet. Healthy local diets, with adequate average levels of nutrients intake, necessitates maintenance of high biodiversity levels.
Intensified and enhanced food production through irrigation, use of fertilizer, plant protection (pesticides) or the introduction of crop varieties and cropping patterns affect biodiversity, and thus impact global nutritional status and human health. Habitat simplification, species loss and species succession often enhance communities vulnerabilities as a function of environmental receptivity to ill health.
Importance of biodiversity for health research and traditional medicine
Traditional medicine continue to play an essential role in health care, especially in primary health care. Traditional medicines are estimated to be used by 60% of the world’s population and in some countries are extensively incorporated into the public health system. Medicinal plant use is the most common medication tool in traditional medicine and complementary medicine worldwide. Medicinal plants are supplied through collection from wild populations and cultivation. Many communities rely on natural products collected from ecosystems for medicinal and cultural purposes, in addition to food.
Although synthetic medicines are available for many purposes, the global need and demand for natural products persists for use as medicinal products and biomedical research that relies on plants, animals and microbes to understand human physiology and to understand and treat human diseases.
Infectious diseases
Human activities are disturbing both the structure and functions of ecosystems and altering native biodiversity. Such disturbances reduce the abundance of some organisms, cause population growth in others, modify the interactions among organisms, and alter the interactions between organisms and their physical and chemical environments. Patterns of infectious diseases are sensitive to these disturbances. Major processes affecting infectious disease reservoirs and transmission include, deforestation; land-use change; water management e.g. through dam construction, irrigation, uncontrolled urbanization or urban sprawl; resistance to pesticide chemicals used to control certain disease vectors; climate variability and change; migration and international travel and trade; and the accidental or intentional human introduction of pathogens.
Climate change, biodiversity and health
Biodiversity provides numerous ecosystem services that are crucial to human well-being at present and in the future. Climate is an integral part of ecosystem functioning and human health is impacted directly and indirectly by results of climatic conditions upon terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Marine biodiversity is affected by ocean acidification related to levels of carbon in the atmosphere. Terrestrial biodiversity is influenced by climate variability, such as extreme weather events (ie drought, flooding) that directly influence ecosystem health and the productivity and availability of ecosystem goods and services for human use. Longer term changes in climate affect the viability and health of ecosystems, influencing shifts in the distribution of plants, pathogens, animals, and even human settlements.

Key Facts: Biodiversity and Health
• More than half of all new drugs are based on or connected to natural products (Ganesan, 2008)
• Around two thirds of the agents that cause human disease are naturally transmitted from animals to humans (Diaz et al, 2005).
• More than half of the world’s population live in urban environments (Dean et al, 2011). Most do not have easy access to green spaces (Hladnik and
Pirnat, 2011).
• A quarter of all European species are under threat. 25% of marine mammals, 15% of terrestrial mammals, 22% of amphibians, 21% of reptiles and 12% of birds are facing extinction at the European level (EEA, 2010). loss by the year 2020.

In addition, the ‘essential contribution to human wellbeing’ of biodiversity
is recognised under the EU’s longer term vision for protecting and restoring biodiversity by 2050. This Future Brief explores emerging issues and recent developments in our understanding of the link between biodiversity and human health.
The natural world is a vast resource of chemical and genetic diversity which makes major contributions to medicine. Chemical compounds produced by plants,
animals or microbes have been used as medicines for decades – centuries in some cases. Some of the best known examples are the penicillin antibiotics, originally
discovered as natural products made by fungi, and the painkiller aspirin, developed by making chemical modifications to a substance in willow bark called salicin. More recent advances mean that scientists are also able to make medically important compounds by making genetic changes to the organisms that produce them, or by reengineering
other organisms to produce the compounds. The anti-malarial artemisinin, an extract of sweet wormwood, can now be produced in large quantities in genetically modified yeast (Ro, et al. 2006) and scientists are using genetic approaches to address drug resistance
problems by tweaking the biochemistry of bacteria. Certain environmental niches, such as the deep ocean, may represent huge genetic resources with largely untapped potential for biomedical applications. For example, structurally unusual chemicals with anticancer activities have recently been isolated from bacteria that grow on coral reefs (Taori, et al. 2008).
The chemical structures produced in nature are relatively few when compared to all possible structures – an infinite number – but they have been honed through many millions of years of evolution. If lost, these biologically active structures may not be so easily accessible through computational or synthetic means. Furthermore, drug development is a slow process (between 1970-2006, only 24 natural product discoveries led directly to the approval of new drugs (Ganesan, 2008)), which highlights the urgency of protecting biodiversity now. Nature is not just a source of new drug
discoveries; it also provides inspiration for the design of novel drugs produced in the laboratory. More than half of new drugs marketed between 1981-2006 had some
natural product connection, providing one compelling argument for preserving
biodiversity. One example is the antibiotic SQ26,180, which was discovered in a
bacterium and replaced by a synthetic mimic.
How to Protect Biodiversity and Health
Improving scientific, political and public understanding of the connections between biodiversity and health will be key to ensuring that the consequences of biodiversity disturbances, and any resulting impacts on human health, are minimized. The value of biodiversity is increasingly recognized by international conventions and, within Europe, under policy frameworks for its conservation. However, careful management of ecosystems is required to protect human health in the future.
The following recommendations highlight just some of the key areas of concern and general principles for policy action:
• Health arguments should be incorporated into policy frameworks for action to conserve
biodiversity.
• Managing specific ecosystem services does not always benefit biodiversity more broadly and may, in the long-term, have negative consequences for other ecosystem services and for human health. This should be reflected in assessments, including
when possible cost-benefit analyses, of decisions and policies affecting ecosystems.
• For some ecosystem services relevant to health, benefits are best expressed in monetary terms in order to aid decision making processes. However, it may not be realistic to calculate an economic value for others.
• Singular policy measures designed to preserve ecosystem benefits to human health will be limited in their scope – a suite of different policy instruments may be required to tackle biodiversity disturbances at their root causes. Coordination between different mechanisms and at regional, national and international levels is key.
• Climate change requires special attention because it poses a threat to biodiversity across all types of ecosystems with unpredictable consequences for health.
• The links between biodiversity and human diseases are complex and require further investigation. However, an awareness of the potential risks associated with development activities, such as deforestation and afforestation, dam building and farming, is crucial and should form the basis for development decisions.
• Incorporating green spaces into urban planning combines opportunities for conserving biodiversity with health benefits to the population. Further research would help characterize the nature of the links that tie human wellbeing to biodiversity within the urban environment.
• Changes to biodiversity affect the availability of food and medicines and the incidence of many different pests and diseases.
• Human physical, psychological and emotional wellbeing are closely connected to biodiversity.
• Many links between biodiversity and human health are complex and difficult to characterize.
• Disturbances to biodiversity will have consequences for human health. These will often be unpredictable and undesirable.
• Diverse and well-coordinated policies are required to protect human health from the negative consequences of biodiversity disturbances.
 The concept of tourism
Tourism has been defined variously by various scholars over the years to include the business of travel for leisure, recreation and or research; however for the purpose of this paper the definition put forward by Aremu 2001 will be used. According to him; “tourism can be defined as the science, art, and business of attracting and transporting visitors, accommodating them and catering for their needs and wants. The entire world industry of travel, hotels, transportation, and all other components including promotion, serves the needs and wants of travelers. Tourism today has been given new meaning, and it is primarily a term in economics referring to an industry” (McIntosh et al, 1977, Aremu D.A 2001).
The above definition of a tourism connotates that tourism involves people traveling from one place to the other. The reason for travelling could be to know more about the cultures of other lands or simply to relax and improve on ones health, from the above discussion on biodiversity and health it clear that biodiversity can serve as a source of tourism resource especially for medical and ecotourism. If the biodiversity is properly understood and preserved, it could help in promoting tourism; tourist would travel from urban centers of less biodiversity wealth to areas of high biodiversity complexity. Tourist travel to enjoy scenic beauties of activities such as bird watching, landscaping and watching animal migration scenes and so many other reasons.
Biodiversity and mental wellbeing
There is an argument that biodiversity has serious implication for mental wellbeing by such authors like Erik Erikson, Harold Searie and the likes. Studies overtime has proved their arguments to be true at least in some parts of the world.
There are three fundamental theories used to argue that biodiversity positively affects human mental wellbeing, these theories are:
1.      Biophilia: this represents an evolution-based theory defined as the innate emotional affinity of human beings to other living organisms and nature. It is hypothesized that this behavior is determined by a programmed genetic sequence along the course of human evolution which a positive response to natural environments in accordance with its own survival. Based on this perspective the concept of affinity towards diversity was developed, this explains the individual’s ability and predisposition to appreciate variant dynamic interaction of human and nature in everyday situation.
2.      Attention to restoration: the theory is based on works of US psychologist W. James, he postulates that “in all individuals there are two areas of mental attention, a) direct attention, which is voluntary and intentional, i.e. one concentrates on aspects regarded as important for oneself. Other less important issues are classified as distraction and have to be blocked by the mind, which in turn produces mental fatigue (direct attention fatigue, or DAF); b) indirect attention (called fascination) which involuntary and automatic, keeping concentration with little or no efforts at all. This allows the brain to recover (or restore), and then going back to direct attention. Attention restoration process takes place in the right side of the frontal cortex of the brain, which form an evolutionary stand point, being alert and focused was necessary for survival”
3.      Psycho-physiologic stress recovery: the theory is based on the empiric result observed in the positive responses given by individuals exposed to natural environments. “under stressful conditions, an individual react following a physiologic mechanism pattern known as ‘fight or flight response’. This reaction involves catecholamine secretion (including epinephrine) into the bloodstream, which causes muscular tension, rise blood pressure, accelerates pulse rate, constrict blood vessels and increase perspiration……. Some studies have found that contact with nature causes people to lower their stress level, even at a short time after the exposure has begun.
The above arguments no have great implications for the flow of tourists to different parts of the world in search of that unique opportunity to relax and savour the therapeutic and stress relieving power of nature. People seek to experience a new environment different from their everyday life and work experience and seek a means to release the stress and tension of work accrued over time. This singular reason has accounted for the mass movement of tourists across the world in recent times and has spurred tourism to its recent position as the world’s highest foreign income earning economic sector capable of improving the economies of even the most underdeveloped nations of the world.
Conclusion
Biodiversity holds great potential for health, not only in providing the source from which medicines and drugs used in cure and prevention of many diseases can be obtained, but in also providing human populations all over the world with its cycling capacity of environmental purification. Biodiversity must be maintained as several studies have shown that sustainable biodiversity practices improves human health, help in disease control and serves a major role in maintaining equilibriums that aid survival and continued existence of life on this our planet earth. As the World Health Organization puts it “man needs the biological diversity to survive, while the biodiversity does not need man at all to continue to exist”. The onus of environmental protection and sustainable use therefore at this present age and time more than ever before rest on mans ability to sustain, protect, conserve and respect biodiversity, for only sustainable interaction can yield and lead to sustainable development.
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