Page - 177 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

177 Since the publication of Lovell et  al. (2014), interest has grown in the potential contribution of biodiverse environments for health and well-being. Growth in this field is shown clearly by the increase in the number of related scientific publica- tions. For example, a search in the Web of Science on just one term, ‘biodiversity and health’, yielded 0 hits for 1980–1989, 3 hits for 1990–1999, 2 hits for 2000– 2009, 6 hits for 2010–2013, and 16 hits from 2014–2018. This coincides with increased interest from governments and international organisations on the men- tal health and well-being effects of biodiversity (Convention on Biological Diversity 2017a, b; EKLIPSE 2017; WBGU  – German Advisory Council on Global Change 2016; World Health Organisation & Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity 2015). Given this research expansion and increased interest, in this chapter we update the literature reviewed by Lovell et  al. (2014). In particular, we focus on the relationships between biodiversity and mental health and mental well-being, as such an analysis has yet to be conducted. Box 9.1 details these definitions. The aim of this chapter is to identify, summarise and synthesise research on the impact of biodiversity on mental health and well-being. There are two objectives: 1. Describe the state and nature of the body of evidence, published since the review by Lovell et  al. (2014), relating biodiversity to mental health and well-being; 2. Provide a synthesis of results from Lovell et  al. (2014) and the more recently published literature to assess whether biodiversity influences mental health and well-being. Box 9.1: Definitions of Biodiversity, Health, Mental Health and Mental Well-being • Biodiversity is “the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems” (United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity 1992, p.  3). • Health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organization 1946). • Mental health “a state of well-being in which an individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work pro- ductively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” (World Health Organization 2016). • Mental well-being is “the psychological, cognitive and emotional quality of a person’s life. This includes the thoughts and feelings that individuals have about the state of their life, and a person’s experience of happiness” (Linton et  al. 2016, p.  12). 9 Review of  the  Mental Health and  Well-being Benefits of  Biodiversity