Page - 262 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

262 2018). For more on the effect of greenspace on children’s health, see Dadvand et  al. Chap 6, this volume.  Chen and Janke (2012) reported that older people who garden suffer from fewer falls, possibly due to improved gait and balance. 11.3 The Role of  Public Health in  Lobbying for  Protecting Biodiversity Human societies increasingly place species and natural habitats (especially biodi- verse habitats) under considerable pressure (Lawton et  al. 2010). Threats to biodi- versity include urbanisation, intensive agriculture, increased pollution and impacts of climate change. Whilst the first three threats can be managed locally, regionally or nationally, climate change requires international cooperation. The role and responsibility of public health experts to campaign on climate change and other threats to biodiversity are given forcefully in the 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change (Watts et  al. 2015). It has become vital for health depart- ments of governments not to operate in isolation; health professionals need to ensure that climate-health-related considerations are integrated into government-wide strategies. One example of cross-governmental working can be seen in the recent UK Environment Strategy, in which health features as a major section (DEFRA 2018). In addition to averting biodiversity loss (e.g. preventing deforestation), climate- related topics requiring cross-governmental thinking also impact directly on public health (e.g. phasing out coal as an energy source will protect cardiovascu- lar and respiratory health). Initiatives to support lifestyles that are healthy for both humans and the environment will also help to provide resilience in the face of the health risks posed by climate change.  See Keune et  al. Chap 15, this volume, for  fur- ther information on international and national nature-health initiatives. Public health professionals need to ensure investment in health systems that can respond to climate change-induced threats to human health. For example, urban flooding can be a significant risk to human health both directly (through the risk of drowning) and through exposure to pathogenic microbes (Jørgensen et  al. 2016). Similarly, changes in extreme temperatures in cities (including in Europe) are con- tributing to significant increases in heat-related mortality levels (Mitchell et  al. 2016). Drought conditions can also exacerbate risks to health, for example, from microorganisms in the plumes from cooling towers (Pagnier et  al. 2009), since water drawn from rivers containing municipal waste may become more concen- trated during droughts. The appropriate policy for maintaining and developing greenspaces of appropri- ate size and accessibility for public health has long been debated. In 1929, for London (UK), Unwin recommended 7  acres (2.83  ha) of greenspace be allocated per 1,000 people as playing fields (first report of the Greater London Regional Planning Committee in 1933, cited by Turner 1992). Later work for English Nature recommended an Accessible Natural Greenspace Standards model with (inter alia) at least 2  ha of natural greenspace within 300  m of all residents and at least 2  ha of Local Nature Reserve per 1,000 people (Harrison et  al. 1995). It was recognised that P. A. Cook et al.