Land Use and Land Cover Change Health and Care Systems
Improving rural health care reduces illegal logging and conserves carbon in a tropical forest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
• Research & Reports
WHAT IS PLANETARY HEALTH?
Land Use and Land Cover Change
The conversion of natural habitat to land used for agriculture and industry is occurring rapidly on a global scale, with dire consequences for the structure and function of ecosystems.
Demographic shifts and increased demand for food, animal products, biofuel, and even cosmetics continue to drive the destruction of ecosystems and their services. This extractive activity leads to negative environmental and human health impacts including:
90% Tropical deforestation driven by agriculture, according to the World Wildlife Fund's 2024 Living Planet Report
- Substantial reduction of biological diversity
- Increased local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from land clearing by burning, which is particularly problematic in tropical and subtropical regions where oil palm cultivation is rapidly increasing
- Soil degradation, which reduces soil ecosystem services such as carbon storage, and increases the risk of desertification
- Nitrogen and phosphorus deposition from agricultural field runoff
- Decreased water quality and quantity
- Increased exposure to water-borne, zoonotic, and vector-borne diseases
The complex interactions between changes in land use, land cover, ecosystem services, and the attendant impacts on human health require longitudinal study across geographic regions in addition to urgent action to re-wild and restore many of the planet’s natural habitats.
Land Use and Land Cover Change Resources
Land Use and Land Cover Change Governance and Policy
Indigenous natural and first law in Planetary Health. Challenges.
• Research & Reports
Infectious Diseases Climate Change
Modeling the relative rold of human mobility, land-use and climate factors on dengue outbreak emergence in Sri Lanka. BMC Infectious Diseases.
• Research & Reports
Land Use and Land Cover Change Economics and Economic Systems
Moving towards a sustainable environment: The dynamic linkage between natural resources, human capital, urbanization, economic growth, and ecological footprint in China. Resources Policy.
• Research & Reports
Climate Change Land Use and Land Cover Change
Potential impacts of climate and land use change on the water quality of Ganga River around the industrialized Kanpur Region. Scientific Reports.
• Research & Reports
News Related to Land Use and Land Cover Change
Cultural Performance as Ecological Healing in Kenya
