WHO-IUCN Report features HIH
In October 2024, COP16 - also known as The 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity - took place in Cali, Colombia.
Health In Harmony global team delegates joined the conference, with co-CEO Jonathan Jennings speaking on the occasion of the launch of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s 2024 Report on Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) for Health.
The report showcases Health In Harmony’s impactful partnerships with communities in Madagascar and Indonesia in two major case studies:
Community-Designed NbS for Health, Biodiversity and Climate in Madagascar
Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot. This case study highlights how, in the country’s Manombo Reserve, through Health In Harmony’s Radical Listening model, local communities designed a system solution that “links mobile health clinics with improved water and sanitation infrastructure, strategic reforestation, and an agricultural extension program that provides each village with training in climate-smart farming, including intensified rice production and diversified vegetable cultivation.”
The case study praises the proven statistical outcomes of this approach as “reducing reliance on forest resources and minimizing zoonotic spillover risks” and demonstrating “how protecting biodiversity and ecosystems cansimultaneously improve health outcomes and climate resilience.”
You can find the case study on page 53 of the report.
Health Systems Reimagined According to the NbS of Rainforest Communities
Indonesia has experienced some of the world’s highest rates of deforestation for several decades – one reason why working with local communities to counter this is so important to preserving biodiversity and stabilizing climate. The WHO-IUCN report notes how the Health in Harmony-Alam Sehat Lestari project in Gunung Palung “excellently exemplifies the Planetary Health/One Health approach.”
The report notes that “global institutions can adopt the Radical Listening methodology to center and be guided by communities’ ecosystem-based, climate- and biodiversity-critical expertise,” adding several recommendations for how this might be achieved.
You can find the case study on page 113 of the report.
Overall, both studies highlight HIH’s success in protecting biodiversity and ecosystems through community-led initiatives that improve both health outcomes and climate resilience, emphasizing the proven efficacy of listening to rainforest communities’ expertise in doing so.
As a joint report from WHO and the IUCN that provides guidance on how to use NbS to improve health, its recommendations and case studies are intended to help policymakers, practitioners, and stakeholders integrate health into NbS policies and practices.