Oceans and society: feedbacks between ocean and human health

Abstract

Graphic abstract The concentration of human population along coastlines has far-reaching effects on ocean and societal health. The oceans provide benefits to humans such as food, coastal protection and improved mental well-being, but can also impact negatively via natural disasters. At the same time, humans influence ocean health, for example, via coastal development or through environmental stewardship. Given the strong feedbacks between ocean and human health there is a need to promote desirable interactions, while minimising undesirable interactions. To this end, we articulate two scenarios for 2030. First, Business-as-Usual, named ‘ Command and (out of) Control ’, focuses on the anticipated future based on our current trajectory. Second, a more sustainable scenario called ‘ Living and Connecting ’, emphasises the development of interactions between oceans and society consistent with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. We describe a potential pathway to achieving the ‘ Living and Connecting ’ scenario, centred on improving marine citizenship, achieving a more equitable distribution of power among stakeholders, and more equitable access to resources and opportunities. The constituent actions of this pathway can be categorised into four groups: (i) improved approaches to science and health communication that account for society’s diverse values, beliefs and worldviews, (ii) a shift towards more trusted relationships among stakeholders to enable two-way knowledge exchange, (iii) economic incentives that encourage behavioural changes necessary for achieving desired sustainability outcomes, and (iv) stronger regulations that simultaneously focus on ocean and human health. We contend that these changes will provide improved outcomes for both oceans and society over the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11160-021-09669-5.

Safeguarding marine life: conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems

“…However, industrialisation and globalisation have resulted in a general loss of connection between people and environments and ecosystems (see also Kelly et al 2021 , this issue). Communities across the world depend directly and indirectly on marine ecosystems (see also Nash et al 2021b , this issue); however, for many people conservation of marine biodiversity is a luxury, for example when the only options for accessing protein or generating a livelihood are based on unsustainable activities (Adams et al 2004 ; Cinner et al 2014 ; Glaser et al 2018 ). Addressing inequality, poverty and social justice is therefore critical for influencing social impetus for marine conservation (see also Alexander et al 2021 , this issue).…”

“…Advancing ocean literacy and empowering people to make informed choices that support marine conservation (e.g. through access to information) are particularly important for influencing social impetus (Kelly et al 2021 ; Nash et al 2021b , this issue). Where conservation efforts result in reduced delivery of benefits, substantial structural resistance to those efforts can occur (Alexander et al 2021 this issue).…”

“…It is not possible for all 7.8 billion people on Earth to feel deeply connected with marine ecosystems. However, actions to increase individuals’ connection with marine spaces and nature in general is likely to increase pro-environmental behaviour and attitudes, with the added benefit of improving wellbeing (Evans et al 2018a ; Kelly et al 2021 ; Nash et al 2021b ; Rosa and Collado 2019 ; White et al 2019 ). The drivers for improving human connectedness to marine environments are outlined in Kelly et al ( 2021 , this issue) and include education, cultural connections, technological developments and knowledge exchange and science-policy interconnections.…”

Development and expansion in the marine social sciences: Insights from the global community

“…Marine environments are complex and dynamic socio-ecological systems. Today, climate change, resource exploitation, biodiversity loss, and myriad other pressures threaten marine systems from local to global scales ( Halpern et al., 2015 , 2019 ; Nash et al., 2017 , 2020 ), with flow-on effects for human wellbeing ( Nash et al., 2021 ). This has major implications for human uses and the future management of the ocean ( Jouffray et al., 2020 ).…”

Future Seas 2030: pathways to sustainability for the UN Ocean Decade and beyond

“…The papers in this 'Future Seas 2030' special issue have each explored potential scenarios of sustainable futures that are theoretically achievable for a range of key challenges for achieving and maintaining a healthy future global ocean, including issues relating to Indigenous rights and access (Fischer et al 2021), climate change (Trebilco et al 2021), biodiversity conservation (Ward et al 2022) and species redistribution (Melbourne-Thomas et al 2021), food security (Farmery et al 2021), ocean literacy (Kelly et al 2021), pollution (Willis et al 2021, feedbacks between human and ocean health (Nash et al 2021b), resource use (Bax et al 2021 andNovaglio et al 2021), and ocean governance (Haas et al 2021). Each of these key challenges either explicitly or implicitly relates to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development goals as well.…”