The Health and Social Benefits of Nature and Biodiversity Protection
Patrick ten Brink Konar Mutafoglu Jean-Pierre Schweitzer Marianne Kettunen Clare Twigger-Ross Jonathan Baker Yoline Kuipers Manon Emonts Liisa Tyrväinen Teppo Hujala Ann Ojala
Final Report 28 April 2016
Funded by the European Commission, DG Environment (ENV.B.3/ETU/2014/0039)
in collaboration with
Legal notice The contents and views contained in this report are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent those of the European Commission. Cite this report: ten Brink P., Mutafoglu K., Schweitzer J-P., Kettunen M., Twigger-Ross C., Baker J., Kuipers Y., Emonts M., Tyrväinen L., Hujala T., and Ojala A. (2016) The Health and Social Benefits of Nature and Biodiversity Protection. A report for the European Commission (ENV.B.3/ETU/2014/0039), Institute for European Environmental Policy, London/Brussels. Corresponding author: Patrick ten Brink –
[email protected]
Acknowledgements: This report by the core author team builds on and benefits from the inputs by the wider study team – including Owen White (Collingwood Environmental Planning), Irene Lucius and Magdalena Peneva (WWF DanubeCarpathian Programme), Holger Robrecht, Pamela Mühlmann and Elisa Kerschbaumer (ICLEI Europe), Rudolf de Groot (Wageningen University), the extensive literature cited, and the case studies, presentations and th th discussions at a stakeholder workshop held on the 27 and 28 of January 2016 in Brussels. A summary of the workshop and the presentations are available here. For the workshop, we would like to thank Roby Biwer, Carsten Brauns, and Martine Lartigue at the Committee of the Regions and the contributing participants. The study benefited from the inputs and comments by Patrick Murphy, Isabel Lourenco de Faria and colleagues at DG Environment of the European Commission, review comments by Hans Keune at the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), as well as inputs by IEEP colleagues and associates – Sandra Mootoosamy, Kamila Paquel, Andrea Illes, Jamie Woollard, Katie Taylor, Monika Kotulak, Maeve Howe, Lucile Rogissart, and Sabrina Dekker.
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Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. 3 1
Introduction.............................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Exploring the contribution that nature can make to health and social challenges........... 1 1.2 Methodology and approach .............................................................................................. 2 1.3 Structure of the report....................................................................................................... 3 2
Improved Air Quality ................................................................................................. 4
2.1 The European air quality challenge ................................................................................... 4 2.2 Benefits of nature protection and biodiversity to air quality and public health ............... 7 2.3 The role of supporting instruments and governance ...................................................... 17 2.4 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 29 3
Improved Microclimatic Conditions – Mitigating Heat Stress ................................... 31
3.1 Heat stress as a public health challenge .......................................................................... 31 3.2 Benefits of nature to climatic conditions and public health ........................................... 34 3.3 The role of supporting instruments and governance ...................................................... 47 3.4 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 54 4
Noise Mitigation ..................................................................................................... 55
4.1 Noise as the second-worst environmental challenge in Europe ..................................... 55 4.2 Benefits of nature protection and biodiversity to noise reduction and public health .... 59 4.3 The role of supporting instruments and governance ...................................................... 70 4.4 Conclusions and recommendations................................................................................. 72 5
Direct Health Benefits ............................................................................................. 73
5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 73 5.2 Direct health and well-being benefits in people’s living and working environments ..... 73 5.3 The role of supporting instruments and governance ...................................................... 85 5.4 Conclusions and recommendations................................................................................. 85 6
Healthier Lifestyles, Nature Experience ................................................................... 87
6.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 87 6.2 Benefits of nature on human health and wellbeing in terms of lifestyles ...................... 87 6.3 The role of supporting instruments and governance .................................................... 100 6.4 Conclusions and recommendations............................................................................... 102 7
Outdoor Recreation and Physical Activity .............................................................. 103
7.1 Health risks related to low physical activity .................................................................. 103 7.2 Health benefits based on physical activity in green areas ............................................ 105
7.3 The role of supporting instruments and governance .................................................... 120 7.4 Conclusions and recommendations............................................................................... 122 8
Wellbeing – living in an attractive location ............................................................ 123
8.1 Attractive location, wellbeing and public health ........................................................... 123 8.2 Health benefits of nature areas and living in an attractive location ............................. 123 8.3 The role of supporting instruments and governance .................................................... 133 8.4 Conclusions and recommendations............................................................................... 134 9
Social Benefits: Quality of Public Spaces, Reduced Tension .................................... 136
9.1 The role of nature for strengthening social cohesion ................................................... 136 9.2 What evidence is there for social benefits of engagement with nature? ..................... 137 9.3 The role of supporting instruments and governance .................................................... 153 9.4 Conclusions and recommendations............................................................................... 155 10 Social Benefits: Volunteering, employment, management ..................................... 156 10.1 Engagement in the natural environment ...................................................................... 156 10.2 Opportunities for engagement in the natural environment ......................................... 156 10.3 Facilitating engagement for all sectors of society ......................................................... 167 10.4 Conclusions and recommendations............................................................................... 172 11 Role of Policy Instruments for Natura 2000 and Wider Green Infrastructure .......... 174 11.1 Supporting Health and Social Objectives through Policy Frameworks ......................... 174 11.2 Health and social benefits associated with Natura 2000 and wider GI ......................... 175 11.3 Enhancing benefits through investment, management and stakeholder involvement 177 11.4 Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 181 12 Role of Governance and Stakeholder Engagement ................................................. 184 12.1 Who are the nature stakeholders and what types of initiatives are they running? ..... 184 12.2 Governance levels working on health-social-nature synergies ..................................... 190 12.3 Catalysts for change and triggers for collaboration ...................................................... 202 12.4 Success factors contributing to effective stakeholder engagement ............................. 210 12.5 The role of funding......................................................................................................... 216 12.6 Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 220 13 Conclusions and Recommendations ...................................................................... 223 13.1 Health and social challenges across Europe and the role of nature ............................. 223 13.2 Recommendations for action – a Road Map for health-social-nature synergies .......... 227 References ................................................................................................................... 246
1 Introduction
1.1
Exploring the contribution that nature can make to health and social challenges
Over the past decade, numerous studies have shown the multiple benefits of protected areas, such as the Natura 2000 network, and green infrastructure to the economy and to human well-being. Examples include carbon storage benefits, water supply and purification, flood management, soil retention, recreation and tourism, and the provision of fish and timber. These assessments have helped communicate the importance of biodiversity protection for the wider public, attract funding for management and restoration and also encourage due engagement with protected areas, green infrastructure and their management to deliver wider benefits for stakeholders, from local authorities, to business (e.g. water companies, tourism & recreation related industries), the public (e.g. schools) and NGOs and clubs (e.g. nature associations, sports) (see Figure 1.1 on the ecosystem services, awareness of the benefits and response). Figure 1.1: Natural capital, ecosystem services, human wellbeing and livelihoods
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), for example, has already done important work to explore the links between biodiversity and health, drawing on studies and cases from across the globe (CBD, 2012; CBD, 2015). Yet while many of the existing studies on protected areas and green infrastructure refer to health benefits and social benefits, 1
including rural viability, none offers a comprehensive assessment of public health benefits from improved air quality, climate, exercise and healthier lifestyles and/or of social benefits from access to nature and working with nature (see Figure 1.1). This study aims at filling this gap and exploring the potential health and social benefits associated with the protection and enhancement of biodiversity in the EU – and in particular with the Natura 2000 network and wider green infrastructure (see Chapter 11). It identifies opportunities for further developing and increasing health and social benefits, it identifies possible tools for mapping of social values and health benefits that could be linked to nature environment and also make recommendations on how actions at the EU level could serve to promote the linkages between biodiversity policy and socio-economic policies more effectively. The more general objective is to evaluate the social benefits (potential and actual) associated with EU biodiversity policy. The work focuses on the following nine areas: Table 1.1: Health and social benefits of nature assessed Direct and indirect health benefits Improved air quality & health benefits Improved climatic conditions – addressing heat stress Noise reduction benefits More pleasant & peaceful, less stressful environment Healthier lifestyles – nature experience Outdoor recreation and physical activity Wellbeing – living in attractive location Promoting social cohesion Quality of green public spaces, reduced social tension Opportunities for involvement – volunteers, employment, management
1.2
Methodology and approach
This report reviews and discusses the existing scientific evidence on the health and social benefits of nature for individuals and at community scale, based on a number of different research methods and work from different research disciplines. This review is primarily based on peer-reviewed literature. It considers some further non-peer reviewed literature to complement the findings from academic research. Furthermore, the report features numerous practical case examples across Europe that illustrate how stakeholders – in different constellations – work together to realise health and social benefits by working with and in nature in urban, suburban or rural settings. The case examples come from all Member States or the European Union. Twenty of these cases are analysed in more detail as examples of good practice in protected areas or working with wider green infrastructure. These cases also show how nature and biodiversity can often benefit from activities that are primarily targeting human health or social concerns. 2
As realising health and social benefits through nature-based approaches typically requires collaboration across the nature, health and social communities, the study team conducted a detailed stakeholder analysis, including a survey and a series of interviews with experts and initiatives across EU Member States. This analysis provided additional insights into governance aspects of nature-health-social links. The evidence brought together from a review of the literature and from looking at real-life applications has been presented to and discussed with a wider range of stakeholders with nature, health or social backgrounds working at local, regional, national or international level at a workshop help in the course of this work. The discussions and insights from this workshop have been integrated in this report and have helped shaping conclusions and recommendations to a way forward in order to better make use of nature-based approached for tackling health and social challenges across Europe.
1.3
Structure of the report
The report first presents and discusses the scientific evidence on the benefits of nature across nine thematic areas. This comprises direct health benefits related to air quality (Chapter 2), to mitigating urban heat stress and noise (Chapters 3 and 4), and to the presence of nature in everyday living environments (Chapter 5). In the following course, the focus is on a number of indirect health benefits related to healthier lifestyles and nature experience (Chapter 6), recreation and exercise (Chapter 7) and the role nature of wellbeing and living in attractive location (Chapter 8). Finally, the discussion also addresses several social benefits provided by nature, namely the access to nature including for disadvantaged individuals and groups, as well as wider socio-economic benefits through opportunities for volunteering, skill building and employment (Chapters 9 and 10). This review of the scientific evidence and practical experience is followed by a dedicated analysis of tools for managing and planning protected areas, especially with a focus on the European Natura 2000 network of protected sites, which can be found in urban, peri-urban and in rural environments, but also covering wider green infrastructure (Chapter 11). This analysis is complemented by a review of governance aspects, including stakeholder engagement and collaboration across the nature, health and social communities (Chapter 12). Based on the above scientific evidence and the practical experience across Europe, and by considering approaches from other regions of the world, the report draws a number of conclusions and recommendations, including a Road Map for health-social-nature synergies (Chapter 13). Stakeholders working at local, regional, national or international level have a number of options to better realise the multiple benefits of nature for human health and wellbeing and the role of nature of biodiversity for delivering these benefits.
3
2 Improved Air Quality 2.1
The European air quality challenge
This chapter examines the social and health benefits of nature in improving air quality. As air quality continues to be a significant health concern in many parts of Europe, increasing research and application of the ecosystem services concept in improving air quality, particularly vegetation in urban and peri-urban settings, is as relevant as ever. The chapter presents evidence of how nature can be used to actively improve air quality or reduce exposure to pollutants and consequently generate social and health benefits. As well as exploring the modes through which vegetation can influence air pollution, it presents cases of Natura 2000 sites and Green Infrastructure (GI) in Europe, as well as further afield, which support these arguments. Air quality is a key determinant of public health, particularly cardiovascular and respiratory functions. Poor air quality in many parts of Europe is a cause for concern and contributes to a significant health risk. In order to understand the potential for natural spaces to provide social and public health benefits, it is necessary to recognise the severity of the public health risks that air pollution continues to pose in Europe. The European Environment Agency (2015) estimates that air pollution is responsible for 430,000 premature deaths in Europe. A considerable body of research links air pollution to a number of significant health impacts. Air pollution drives serious impacts on cardiovascular and respiratory systems, including reduced lung function, asthma, chronic bronchitis and premature deaths (COM, 2013c; Amann et al., 2005; Hansell, et al., 2015). The literature focuses on the pollutants that pose the biggest public health threat (see Table 2.1).
4
Table 2.1: Important air pollutants, including EU limits and data for exceedance Pollutant
Source
Health impact
EU limits, 1 year averaging period unless stated (COM, 2013c)
Particulate matter (PM)
Road vehicles, shipping, power generation, industry, and households, natural sources (sea salt, wind-blown soil, sand)
Can cause or aggravate cardiovascular and lung diseases, heart attacks and arrhythmias. Can cause cancer. May lead to atherosclerosis, adverse birth outcomes and childhood respiratory disease. The outcome can be premature death.
PM10 50 μg/m
A secondary pollutant produced by chemical reactions of
Can decrease lung function, can aggravate asthma and other lung diseases, can lead to premature
NOx and VOCs in sunlight
mortality
Road vehicles, shipping, power generation,
Exposure to NO2 is associated with increased all-cause cardiovascular and respiratory mortality and respiratory morbidity.
40 µg/m
VOCs are the key component in the formation of ground-level ozone.
n/a
Aggravates asthma and can reduce lung function and inflame the respiratory tract, can cause
125 µg/m (24 hours)
Ground-level ozone (O3)
Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
3
3
PM2.5 25 µg/m
3
120 µg/m (8 hour mean)
3
The use of solvents in products
Sulphur dioxide (SO2)
Power generation, industry, shipping and households
For PM10 21% of sites exceed EU limit
24 % of the O3 stations
2% (17 stations) of all urban background stations
industry and households
Volatile organic compounds (VOC)
European levels, 2012 (EEA, 2014)
n/a
and industry, road vehicles, household heating and power generation
headaches, general discomfort and anxiety.
COM, 2013; EEA, 2014, p. 31
5
3
3 stations in Bulgaria and Poland, other sites generally well below EU limit
In some cases, the links between air pollution and morbidity are still not fully understood. Research in these areas is still uncovering how particulates and other airborne material can affect human health. Some aspects, such as long-term exposure to ozone or ultra-fine particles (PM
