ABSTRACT
Climate change is a pervasive threat shared by humans, animals, and ecosystems. Interventions to improve health in the face of climate change should help avoid the unimaginable and manage the unavoidable. The interconnectedness of Nature, health, and climate make Nature-based approaches a logical area through which health promotions and protection can be maximized. Nature's contributions to health (e.g. provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services) are the foundations of resilience to climate change. Unfortunately, the loss of biodiversity is as great a threat to humans and ecosystems as the threats posed by climate change. Actions to protect biodiversity will have co-benefits of mitigating and adapting to climate change while also protecting humans and animals from the direct and indirect health impacts of lost biodiversity. It is difficult to refute the importance that Nature plays in health outcomes and that degradation of Nature increases pathologic conditions. Equally irrefutable is the assertion that keeping each other healthy and resilient by keeping Nature healthy and resilient is an impactful way to promote climate change mitigation and adaptation.
