Land, Biodiversity, and Human Wellbeing

Land-change dynamics affect biodiversity and, in turn, human wellbeing at societal and individual scales. Land-change dynamics, typically impelled by short-term economic imperatives, rarely acknowledge or reflect their implications for biodiversity and/or health, which are often somewhat removed from the land-change dynamics or (economically) unquantified.  Health, or rather wellbeing, remains tenuously understood in relation to ongoing biodiversity loss driven by land change.

This Section of Land welcomes submissions that highlight the land-biodiversity-human wellbeing nexus with respect to its trends, compromises, and controversies.  Well-known examples of this land-biodiversity-human wellbeing nexus include:

• Increased risks of cross-species viral contagion (e.g., coronavirus, bird flu) due to human consumption of ‘exotic’ fauna or intensive husbandry of commercial livestock;
• Pharmaceutical discovery in rapidly retreating tropical forests;
• Respiratory illness and deaths related to Indonesian agricultural fires across peatlands; and
• The hunting and consumption of nutritious and often spiritually sanctioned, but threatened, species by traditional societies.

No particular topics within the land-biodiversity-human wellbeing nexus are prioritized over others. Rather, emphasis will be on the quality of the submissions, and the scope of the nexus is to be ultimately defined by the submissions themselves. However, submissions concerning food systems, agricultural burning, viral contagion, animal husbandry, agrochemicals/organic agriculture, threatened species, conservation planning, and similar topics will have clear relevance and so are encouraged.

Here, ‘wellbeing’ is conceived broadly in terms health, resilience, and wellness, at both societal to individual levels and with respect to physical, mental, and spiritual/cultural dimensions.

All article types are welcome, from full empirical studies to short research notes to commentaries and reviews. Special Issue proposals within this Land Section are invited by all interested parties.