Building synergies to leverage the power
of ecological restoration
About the EcoHealth Network
We live in a world of possibilities. Ecological restoration projects exist worldwide in which people are doing heroic work to bring ecosystems back to health. But there is little connection among these sites. The EcoHealth Network is changing that. We work at the nexus of soil health, human health, and ecological restoration, where there are answers to some of the most urgent crises of our time.
The Hobart Declaration on EcoHealth
The Hobart Declaration is an outcome of the EcoHealth Network's Hobart Workshop in Tasmania, Australia, on February 18-19, 2020. Its core message is that ecological restoration activities are good for both ecosystems and people.
The coronavirus emergency has heightened our awareness of our own individual mortality, and of the vulnerability of our evidently unsustainable global and national economic system to the natural catastrophes that system is exacerbating or engendering – fire, flood, drought and now plague. If we are to learn the lessons of this disaster, we need to see nature as more than a comfort blanket to grab in the dark. We need to recognise that our health, in every sense, depends on the health of the natural world. We cannot go back to exploiting nature at current levels, and not expect further dire consequences. That means we will need to change our lives, and lifestyles, not just during lockdown, but for the future.
Network Sites
Learn about our Network Sites.
Events
- Public Launch Event for the New EcoHealth Network: May 13, 2019, in St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- EcoHealth Network International Workshop: May 14 – 15, 2019, in St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Symposium at the Society for Ecological Restoration Conference: September 24-27, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa
- Four Islands EcoHealth Network Workshop: February 17-20, 2020, in Hobart, Tasmania
- Ecological Restoration and Public Health Symposium: at the Boston University School of Public Health and/or online in 2021
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Publications
A World of Possibilities: Six Restoration Strategies to support the United Nation's Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
The authors propose six practical strategies to strengthen the effectiveness of ecological restoration in order to meet the aspirations of the UN Decade and move us toward a global restorative culture.
Addressing meta-externalities: Investments in restoring the Earth
An economic theory that can help mitigate the ecological and civilizational catastrophes bearing down on us must differ significantly from the prevailing system of economic theory, which has permitted and sometimes encouraged economic actors to ignore the harms they impose on people and nature.
News & Press
What if preserving ecosystems could prevent future pandemics?
The way we live now helps infectious diseases spill over from wild animals to humans.
Coronavirus: 'Nature is sending us a message’, says UN environment chief
Nature is sending us a message with the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing climate crisis, according to the UN’s environment chief, Inger Andersen. Andersen said humanity was placing too many pressures on the natural world with damaging consequences.
Photos by Thibaud Aronson