In 2021 we propose to individuals, organizations, companies and governments to CELEBRATE AREAS FOR WELLNESS AND THEIR PEOPLE, focusing on 6 categories. One of them is ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH.
According to the #NatureForAll CONNECT Handbook* "The time we spend in nature has an important role to play in protecting health and wellness at all ages. From gardening to cycling to simply walking outdoors, some of the benefits gained are:
- improved blood pressure, pulse rate and stress hormone levels;
- increased sense of well-being;
- reduced levels of anxiety and depression;
- reduced stress and improved work performance in office spaces;
- reduced incidents of aggressive behavior among Alzheimer's patients in long-term care facilities.
Since the Celebration of Protected, Conserved Areas and their people, we rely on the "ONE HEALTH" APPROACH.
Bringing together human, animal and environmental health, One Health is a cross-cutting approach that carries out programs, policies, legislation and research in which different sectors work together to achieve better public health outcomes.
Because approximately two-thirds of known human infectious diseases are shared with animals, and most emerging diseases are associated with wildlife, One Health has focused on the nexus between human and animal health, including zoonoses.
On the other hand, together with Karen Podvin from the IUCN Regional Office for South America, we mentioned Nature-based Solutions (NBS)**. These include actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems to effectively address multiple societal challenges - climate change, disaster risks, human health, socio-economic development, food and water security, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation - while simultaneously ensuring human well-being and biodiversity benefits.
Approaches under this umbrella concept of BNS include those of ecosystem protection, such as the various systems of protected areas (e.g. public, private, municipal, urban, etc.) or Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECM). With the rich biodiversity, variety of ecosystems and their services, and the innumerable needs for sustainable development, these areas for well-being are key for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)!
We also invite you to share Areas for Wellbeing in the category linked to Environmental Health, through efforts to ensure functional and healthy ecosystems and landscapes, agroecology and agrobiodiversity practices, human health and nature linkages, valuing or restoring urban or rural spaces in the context of pandemic and related topics.
OPTIONS: How to Celebrate Environmental Health?
In Colombia, for example, they have promoted the initiative VITAMIN "N" for Nature and propose the following decalogue.
DECALOGUE OF THE VITAMIN N CULTURE
It is a therapy to nourish the body and the spirit, to take advantage of the benefits of the natural environment we must learn to observe, to smell, to feel, to listen and to touch.
Look at the forests, trees, gardens, bushes and flowers. Fall in love with them. Observe, approach, talk to them, smell the scent of the countryside and nature.
Breathe deeply in the natural environment, feel the clean and transparent water wherever you find it. Let it pass through your hands, your feet, your body.
Close your eyes in a natural environment and listen. It is the practice of deep relaxation when you learn to distinguish the sounds of nature.
Hug a tree, roll in a meadow, sit in the forest, talk to animals, how about keeping good company? Get a pet, better if you adopt one. Buy plants and take care of them.
Take them to your table because if you eat more natural you take care of your life and try to be active in the natural environment because you benefit from Vitamin N activity.
If you are going on vacation and are looking for an ideal place, put on your list the . They are a program not to be missed.
Another good initiative is the WILD DAYS! that invite you with the following proposal:
FAMILY DAYS OUTDOORS
HAVE FUN AND LEARN IN OUR NATURE RESERVES WHERE IT'S ALWAYS PLAYTIME!
and organize: sand pits, mud kitchens, outdoor gyms and even rentable nature packages to encourage young minds to explore, create and discover.
Other options referring to ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH have to do with:
Healthy eating and agroecology.
Community research and monitoring of key species for HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS.
Site cleanup or waste management initiatives.
Landscape restoration or regeneration (Plantations, ecological restoration projects or biodiversity corridors, green space recovery, pollinator gardens, etc).
Valuing Protected Areas as Nature-based Climate Solutions: "It has been estimated that terrestrial protected areas store about 12% of terrestrial carbon stocks and sequester annually about 20% of the carbon sequestered by all terrestrial ecosystems "***.
REGISTER AND SUBMIT YOUR MATERIAL before September 30 and join this powerful gathering of pride for Latin America and the Caribbean on October 15, 15 and 17, 2021.
LET'S CELEBRATE, around October 17th, PROTECTED AND CONSERVED AREAS DAY FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN.
FORMAT: Format: up to 2MG / 1.30 min duration in mp4 / horizontal position / must respect the Identity Manual.
Sources:
*https://cecuicnsur.wixsite.com/cecsur/material
**SbN: Cohen-Shacham, E., G. Walters, C. Janzen et S. Maginnis (ed.) (2016). Nature-based Solutions to address global societal challenges. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. xiii + 97pp. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2016.13.en
***"Nature-based solutions are interventions to sustainably protect, manage and restore natural and modified ecosystems in ways that address societal challenges, such as climate change, land degradation and biodiversity loss. Scientific evidence shows that these solutions would contribute to reducing vulnerabilities to the impacts of the climate crisis and can provide up to 37% of the mitigation needed between now and 2030, and thus meet the Paris Agreement's goal of achieving a temperature well below 2 degrees Celsius by this date.
According to the Protected Planet Report, nature-based climate solutions, including the protection and restoration of forests and other carbon-storing ecosystems, could provide up to 37% of the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions needed to stabilize warming at 2°C by 2030.
It has been estimated that terrestrial protected areas store about 12% of terrestrial carbon stocks and sequester annually about 20% of the carbon sequestered by all terrestrial ecosystems. The carbon stored in coastal and marine protected areas is believed to be significant, although it has not yet been quantified. Oceans have absorbed 20-25% of atmospheric carbon dioxide since 2008, and blue carbon, the carbon stored in mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows, accounts for half of the carbon stored in marine sediments.
When effectively implemented, governed and managed, protected areas can preserve relatively intact ecosystems that not only sequester and store carbon, but also provide clean water and increase resilience to storms and other natural hazards, to the benefit of ecosystems and people, and provide habitat for a variety of species.
Access here the article Understanding the value and limitations of nature-based solutions to climate change and other global challenges by Seddon N, Chausson A, Berry P, Girardin CAJ, Smith A, Turner B. 2020 Understanding the value and limits of nature-based solutions to climate change and other global challenges.
Nature Based Solutions (Royal society)