The Healthy Ecosystems, Healthy People Initiative

In 2025, EHN launched the Healthy Ecosystems, Healthy People Initiative to help strengthen the evidence base for how conserving biodiversity and restoring ecosystems can positively influence human health. This initiative aims to demonstrate that ecological restoration can deliver positive public and clinical health outcomes, supporting the development of actionable recommendations and strategies to increase the amount and effectiveness of restoration being undertaken globally.

Through the EHN global action network, member organizations, institutions, and sites are working together to collaborate, secure funding, exchange knowledge, and promote education—activating pilot projects that demonstrate how to foster both healthy environments and healthy people concurrently.

We’re currently seeking new partners and demonstration sites

If you are working on, or envisioning, a project that could contribute to this evidence base, we invite you to submit your site for consideration as a core partner. We are especially looking for demonstration projects that meet the following criteria:

• A site or network of sites where restoration, conservation, or greenspace management are being undertaken, in proximity to a human population or engaging people that may be affected by or benefit from these activities.
• A clear and actionable research question, ideally driven by the community and local health professionals, addressing the relationship between environmental and human health. This question should have the potential to generate measurable outcomes within a five-year timeframe.
• Demonstrated capacity — or a clear, feasible strategy to build the necessary capacity — to undertake research including data collection, data analysis, and manuscript writing.
• Interest in being part of a multidisciplinary international collaboration, including potential for future grant funding and additional collaborations through the EHN network.

Submit your project using our online form.
If your idea doesn’t yet meet all the criteria, we still encourage you to get in touch—we welcome early-stage concepts and can work with you to refine your project.

EHN is not a funding body, but a bridging organization that connects practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and the general public across ecological restoration, public health, and allied sectors. Our goal is to foster collaboration, identify resources, and support demonstration, educational, and research projects through shared knowledge and technical expertise.

Other ways to engage
Even if your organization isn’t ready to participate in a major research project, there are still many ways to participate in this initiative. You can:

• Advocate for policy changes that recognize restoration as an activity that can be beneficial to human health
• Collaborate on funding proposals
• Share your technical expertise or resources
• Help raise awareness of how ecosystem restoration can positively influence human health

This is a collective effort—and we need your insight, expertise, and engagement.

For further information or to explore partnership opportunities, please contact us at [email protected].

To receive the latest news and updates about this initiative, we invite you to join our mailing list.