More than meets the eye: conservation as a public health imperative

Biodiversity loss, namely a reduction in the variety of life on Earth, continues relatively unabated worldwide. Biodiversity loss represents far more than a loss to experience nature's beauty or to benefit economically from nature. The simplification of the biosphere has profound and well-known consequences for human well-being. Biodiversity serves as a repository for new medicines and as a source of insights into human disease. It can provide a check up on the spread of infectious diseases and it also delivers a host of goods and services such as food, water and air purification, and regulation of climate.In this lecture, Dr Bernstein presented examples, including evidence from recent emerging infectious diseases in Southeast Asia such as SARS and Nipah virus, that biodiversity is a public health matter. He argued that human well-being is tied to the well-being of all species and that we must take care of biodiversity if we are to take care of ourselves. This lecture was presented by the Institute for Population Health, ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment. Dr Aaron Bernstein's speaking tour was made possible by the Thomas Foundation Conservation Oration presented in partnership with The Nature Conservancy.