This report from UNU-IAS and partners describes the policy context of community health, environment and development, including health-related development goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
It also highlights challenges related to biological resource use, traditional knowledge and local level health delivery systems, and suggests strategies and action plans for synergizing efforts to achieve shared policy goals.
10 October 2012: The UN University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) has launched a policy report, titled “Biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge and Community Health: Strengthening Linkages,” on the connections between biodiversity and development priorities, particularly the ways in which biodiversity contributes to human health. The report aims to support planning toward development objectives by highlighting health and biodiversity linkages at the community level.
The report assesses various contributing factors to health, including biological resources, knowledge and human resources, socio-cultural resources, related policy processes and more.
The first section of the report describes the policy context of community health, environment and development, including health-related development goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The second section highlights challenges related to biological resource use, traditional knowledge and local level health delivery systems, and presents case studies on how these issues may be addressed. In particular, this section covers: biological resources; knowledge resources; human resources; community health and nutrition; equity and livelihoods; interculturality, integration and institutionalization; education; protection and rights-based approaches for community knowledge; socio-cultural landscapes; and partnerships and networking. The third and final section suggests strategies and action plans for synergizing efforts to achieve shared policy goals.
The report was researched and written by UNU-IAS in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), ETC-COMPAS and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Equator Initiative. [Publication: Biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge and Community Health: Strengthening Linkages]