Connecting biodiversity and human wellbeing

Across the world, urban human populations are expanding rapidly. The negative stressors associated with city-living can lead to both physical and mental ill-health, the costs of which are accumulating steadily. Urban green and blue space can benefit human health and wellbeing through a variety of mechanisms (e.g. reducing physiological stress, restoring attentional capacity). These same spaces also provide vital habitat for biodiversity. However, there is little consensus regarding how specific biodiversity attributes (e.g. different species, colours, sounds) affect people’s wellbeing, due to the rich and complex ways people perceive their surroundings. Comparisons between studies are further complicated by use of a diverse range of wellbeing measures, biodiversity metrics, sampling methodologies and biases in geographical locations. Nonetheless, policy-makers and practitioners must trade-off between multiple environmental and social benefits and dis-benefits, finding interventions that deliver positive reinforcing outcomes for both biodiversity conservation and public health. Human experiences of urban nature need to therefore be explored empirically, systematically and with more nuance in relation to biodiversity specifically.