Conservation Medicine 9
Threats to Global Biodiversity Conservation and Planetary Health.
In recent decades, the global public commons has begun to understand the profound inextricable interconnectedness between the health of our planet and the health of its people. At the heart of this relationship lies biodiversity—the full spectrum of life on Earth, encompassing genetic diversity within species, the variety of species themselves, and the complexity of ecosystems they form.
Biodiversity is far more than a measure of ecological richness or natural heritage; it is the living infrastructure of the planet. It underpins essential ecosystem services such as food production, clean air and water, climate regulation, pollination, soil fertility, disease regulation, and resilience to environmental shocks—services upon which human health, global economies, and societies fundamentally depend.
Biodiversity also confers adaptability and stability to natural systems, enabling ecosystems to recover from disturbances and continue functioning in the face of change. In this way, it is inseparable from planetary health and human well-being across the life course.
Despite its central importance, global biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate. Habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, overexploitation of natural resources, invasive species, and land-use change interact in reinforcing ways to erode ecosystems and destabilize ecological balance. This accelerating loss represents not only an environmental crisis but a profound threat to human survival, increasing vulnerability to food insecurity, emerging infectious diseases, climate extremes, and social instability.
The biodiversity crisis is therefore both an ecological and a public health emergency—one that demands urgent, integrated action across global environmental, economic, and healthcare delivery systems.
The Biodiversity Crisis: A Global Alarm.
According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), as of 2019 nearly one million species are at risk of extinction—many within the coming decades—if current trajectories persist. The pace of biodiversity loss is unparalleled in human history. This crisis is not confined to iconic ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest or coral reefs; it spans all biomes and disrupts planetary systems that are fundamental to human health, food production, water security, and climate stability.
Key Threats to Global Biodiversity.
Land Use Change and Habitat Destruction: Agriculture expansion, urbanization, deforestation, and infrastructure development remain the leading causes of habitat loss worldwide. Forests, wetlands, grasslands, and marine ecosystems are being fragmented or destroyed, undermining the ecological balance that supports biodiversity.
Climate Change: Altered precipitation patterns, temperature shifts, and extreme weather events are reshaping ecosystems, disrupting species' life cycles, migration patterns, and food sources. Coral bleaching, shifting vegetation zones, and melting ice habitats are stark indicators of climate's growing toll.
Pollution: From plastic waste and heavy metals to pesticides and pharmaceutical residues, pollution contaminates soil, air, and water. These pollutants can decimate sensitive species and destabilize entire food webs. Marine life is especially vulnerable, with microplastics and nutrient runoff fueling ocean dead zones.
Overexploitation of Natural Resources: Unsustainable hunting, fishing, logging, and resource extraction are depleting species faster than they can recover. The collapse of fisheries and poaching of endangered species illustrate how human consumption is pushing ecosystems beyond resilience.
Invasive Species and Pathogen Spillover: The global movement of goods, people, and animals has introduced invasive species into ecosystems where they outcompete native species and introduce new diseases. Additionally, habitat encroachment increases the likelihood of zoonotic disease transmission, as seen in pandemics like COVID-19.
The Link Between Biodiversity Conservation and Planetary Health.
Biodiversity Conservation is not a luxury—it’s a necessity for human survival and well-being. Diverse ecosystems regulate our climate, purify our water, pollinate crops, and protect against natural disasters. When biodiversity is eroded, the resilience of ecosystems declines, and so too does the capacity of the planet to support human health.
The emerging field of Planetary Health recognizes this. According to the 2015 report, Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene epoch: Report of The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on planetary health, Planetary Health emphasizes that human health depends on flourishing natural ecosystems and calls for integrative approaches to address environmental, social, and economic determinants of health on a global scale.
Toward an Integrated Response.
To safeguard Biodiversity Conservation and Planetary Health, we must move beyond siloed and fragmented conservation efforts and embrace global systems thinking. This includes:
Reinforcing international agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and supporting the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is critical for aligning national policies with shared global targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Effective implementation, adequate financing, transparent monitoring, and accountability mechanisms are essential to translate these commitments into measurable ecosystem and social outcomes.
Incentivizing sustainable land use through regenerative agriculture, nature-based solutions (NbS), and conservation finance can shift global economic systems toward practices that restore soils, enhance biodiversity, sequester carbon, and strengthen climate resilience. By valuing ecosystem services and directing public and private investment toward restoration and stewardship, these approaches align environmental sustainability with long-term economic and community well-being.
Building cross-sector collaborations that integrate human health, animal health, and environmental stewardship—such as the One Health and EcoHealth models— recognizes the interconnectedness of ecosystem integrity and population health. These integrative frameworks promote coordinated action across disciplines and sectors to prevent zoonotic disease emergence, enhance food and water security, and foster resilient socio-ecological systems.
Elevating Indigenous and local knowledge in conservation efforts recognizes Indigenous Peoples and local communities as long-standing stewards of ecosystems, whose place-based knowledge, cultural practices, and relational worldviews have sustained biodiversity conservation for generations. Integrating this knowledge alongside empirically-driven scientific approaches leads to more ethical, resilient, and effective conservation strategies while advancing equity, self-determination, self-efficacy, and shared governance.
Strengthening public education and global advocacy to inspire collective action is essential for translating scientific evidence into societal change. By increasing ecosystem literacy, amplifying the global health and economic consequences of biodiversity loss, and mobilizing cross-sector partnerships, education, research, practice, and advocacy can foster a shared sense of responsibility and empower individuals, communities, and institutions to act at the worldwide scale and urgency the crisis demands.
A Call to Stewardship.
Protecting biodiversity is not simply about preventing the loss of species; It is about safeguarding the ecosystems that sustain human civilization and the integrity of the natural world itself. Every policy choice, land-use decision, and consumption pattern either accelerates ecosystem collapse or contributes to planetary regeneration.
The window for meaningful action is rapidly closing. Securing a livable future will require acting with urgency, centering equity, and sustaining a collective, unwavering commitment to protecting and restoring the natural systems on which all life depends.
