Improving rural health care reduces illegal logging and conserves carbon in a tropical forest

Abstract

Tropical forest loss currently exceeds forest gain, leading to a net greenhouse gas emission that exacerbates global climate change. This has sparked scientific debate on how to achieve natural climate solutions. Central to this debate is whether sustainably managing forests and protected areas will deliver global climate mitigation benefits, while ensuring local peoples’ health and well-being. Here, we evaluate the 10-y impact of a human-centered solution to achieve natural climate mitigation through reductions in illegal logging in rural Borneo: an intervention aimed at expanding health care access and use for communities living near a national park, with clinic discounts offsetting costs historically met through illegal logging. Conservation, education, and alternative livelihood programs were also offered. We hypothesized that this would lead to improved health and well-being, while also alleviating illegal logging activity within the protected forest. We estimated that 27.4 km2 of deforestation was averted in the national park over a decade (∼70% reduction in deforestation compared to a synthetic control, permuted P = 0.038). Concurrently, the intervention provided health care access to more than 28,400 unique patients, with clinic usage and patient visitation frequency highest in communities participating in the intervention. Finally, we observed a dose–response in forest change rate to intervention engagement (person-contacts with intervention activities) across communities bordering the park: The greatest logging reductions were adjacent to the most highly engaged villages. Results suggest that this community-derived solution simultaneously improved health care access for local and indigenous communities and sustainably conserved carbon stocks in a protected tropical forest.

Preparing international cooperation on pandemic prevention for the Anthropocene

“…48 New evidence also suggests that in doing so, universal health coverage is also likely to improve conservation outcomes, and therefore reduce environmental degradation, in the communities where spillover risk is highest. 49 …”

“…48 New evidence also suggests that in doing so, universal health coverage is also likely to improve conservation outcomes, and therefore reduce environmental degradation, in the communities where spillover risk is highest. 49 Addressing injustice within (and in some cases caused by) the healthcare system is critical to addressing the disproportionate burden of epidemic diseases on already vulnerable populations. Not only does realising UHC contribute to strengthening health systems for epidemic disease, it prevents illness and death from a range of non-securitized health challenges, including maternal and child health, non-communicable diseases and injuries.…”

Human-mediated impacts on biodiversity and the consequences for zoonotic disease spillover

“…One way to achieve this is through conservation of land via Indigenous Protected Areas: although defined differently depending on the country, Indigenous Protected Areas are generally large areas of intact ecosystems managed or co-managed by Indigenous groups. More than 46% of national reserves within Australia are Indigenous Protected Areas 206 , and a small but increasing proportion of protected land in Canada is comprised of Indigenous Protected Areas (for example, Thaidene Ne ¨n e Indigenous Protected Area, the homeland of the qutse ¨l K' e Dene First Nation) 207 Review is Health in Harmony's programs in Borneo, Madagascar, and Brazil, which start with 'radical listening' within rainforest communities to co-develop community-based conservation and health programs that reduce deforestation and provide affordable healthcare access 208 .…”

Disease Risk and Conservation Implications of Orangutan Translocations

“…Solutions that provide financial benefits, employment opportunities, or improved livelihoods should be determined in collaboration with local communities to address their specific needs. While there are few counterfactual-based studies on orangutan conservation interventions, demonstrated effective strategies include health care services tied to illegal logging reductions ( 140 ) and community forest management initiatives ( 141 ). In areas where orangutans need to move between forest blocks within agricultural landscapes, crops unpalatable to orangutans, like shade-grown coffee, may be helpful ( 142 ).…”