Links Between Nature and Human Well-Being Revealed in Review of Over 300 Articles on Cultural Ecosystem Services

A methodical review of more than 300 academic articles on cultural ecosystem services has allowed scientists to determine how the nonmaterial contributions from nature are associated with and significantly impact the well-being of humans.

As indicated in a EurekAlert! report, the researchers identified over 220 distinctive pathways through which human interaction with nature favorably or adversely affects well-being.

These were then utilized to isolate 16 unique underlying mechanisms or connection types through which humans are experiencing such impacts.

Such an extensive review brings together observations from a fragmented field of study, which could be of great use to policymakers looking to benefit society by means of careful use and protection of nature's intangible benefits.

Link Between Human Well-Being and Nature

Besides clean water, food, and use of raw materials, nature offers many benefits that might have been overlooked or found difficult to grasp and measure.

Research into the so-called CESs or cultural exosystem services, the nonmaterial benefits received from nature, aims to understand such contributions better, whether they arise through recreation and social experiences or the spiritual value of nature, as well as the sense of place.

Hundreds of CESs studies have discovered the links between human well-being and nature. Nonetheless, they have frequently used different approaches and measurements or focused on different places, not demographics.

Such fragmentation makes it hard to determine overarching patterns or commonalities in how such intangible contributions impact human well-being.

Understanding them further could help real-world decision-making about the environment, which could benefit people and the wider society.

Cultural Ecosystem Services

As specified in the study published in the Science Advances journal, the negative contributions to human well-being came primarily through the CESs' loss or degradation and through ecosystem "disservices" like an annoyance at wildlife noise, which can impact, particularly, the mental health of some people.

Nonetheless, on the other hand, the highest positive contributions of CESs were both physical and mental health, which were produced primarily through tourism, recreation, and aesthetic value.

According to associate Alexandros Gasparatos, co-author of the study and professor at the Institute of Future Initiatives at the University of Tokyo, it is interesting to note that the identified pathways and mechanisms, instead of affecting human well-being independently, frequently interact strongly.

He added that according to a Bioengineer.org report, this could develop adverse trade-offs in some contexts, but essential positive synergies can also be leveraged to offer multiple benefits to the well-being of humans.

Ecosystem-Reliant Communities

Despite this review's comprehensiveness, the study authors have acknowledged that there may still be more associations that have not yet been identified, especially as the review demonstrated gaps in the present research landscape.

Gasparatos also explained that they hypothesize that missing pathways and mechanisms could exist in ecosystem-reliant communities, particularly traditional and Indigenous communities, considering their extremely distinctive links to nature.

Lam Huynh, a graduate student from the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science at the University of Tokyo said, explained that another of the knowledge gaps the team identified is that the present literature on such nonmaterial dimensions of human-nature associations mainly focuses on these individuals' well-being, instead of on collective or community well-being.

This substantial gap inhibits the scientists' capacity to determine possible synergies and trade-offs in ecosystem management research and practice.

The researchers are now granted to explore the impacts of CESs provision on human well-being in Tokyo's urban spaces.

This project, Gasparatos said, is a logical follow-up to test if and how some of the identified pathways and mechanisms are unfolding in reality and intersect with the well-being of humans.

The team hopes that this research and similar initiatives will make it possible to apply the key findings from this complex and diverse body of knowledge to allow for real-world effect.

Related information about nature and human well-being is shown on UN Environment Programme's YouTube video below:

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