David J. Rapport Principal, Ecohealth Consulting

and

Adjunct Professor, Institute for Applied Ecology Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang

Ecocultural Health for a Sustainable Future

2012 Keith Roby Memorial Lecture

1992 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity

WARNING: We the undersigned, senior members of the world's scientific community, hereby warn all humanity of what lies ahead. A great change in our stewardship of the earth and the life on it is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided and our global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mutilated.

Signed by 1700 scientists including a majority of Nobel Laureates in the Sciences.

Annual Loss of Primary Forest – 50,000 km2/year; 16,000

species threatened with extinction (United Nations)

Trends in Marine Fish Stocks

Marine Fisheries Outlook!

Access to Drinking Water

Food Security

The human population has reached the point “where the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is

available” (UN)

Global Warming 1880-2011

CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuels 1990-2010

A key recommendation from “Scientists’ Warning to Humanity” was to bring fossil fuel emissions under control.

How well have we done?

World Population Projections 1950-2050

Global Living Planet Index 2012

Living Planet Index by Categories

Environmental Refugees

Fifty million “environmental

refugees” will flood into

the global north by 2020,

fleeing food shortages

sparked by climate change.

(AAAS Symposium, 2011)

WHO estimates 2.2 million

deaths in developing countries

attributable to food shortages

and water-borne diseases.

Human Health Impacts of Ecological Imbalance

Vector-Borne Diseases: Malaria, Dengue, Schistosomiasis, Lyme Disease

Land-use changes, global warming

Water-Borne Diseases: Cholera, Cryptosporidiosis, Dysentery

Eutrophication

Infectious Diseases: Avian Influenza

Land-use changes, inappropriate agricultural and animal raising practices

Pandemics: AIDS Human encroachment on wild areas

Malnutrition Unsustainable agricultural practices; loss of wild foods

Henry Kendall, Nobel Laureate in Physics

“Make no mistake about it, this is warfare!”

Kenneth E. Boulding, Distinguished Economist

“Anyone who believes in

indefinite growth in anything

physical, on a physically

finite planet, is either mad

or an economist.”

The President’s Council of Economic Advisors

Ecosystem as Handmaiden to Economy

Ecosystem Services

Value of Ecosystem Services for Several Habitat Types [from Costanza et al (1997) and Duarte et al (2008)]

The Ecosystem Health Perspective

Humans are part of, not separate from their ecosystems. Our economy, health, cultural and social practices are dependent on the health of our ecosystems.

This example, designed for medical students, shows the context for personal health is the family, society, ecosystem, and the world (biosphere).

Ecosystem Distress Syndrome (EDS) has taken far more lives than AIDS.

The Baltic Sea from Space

Finnish Research Vessel “Aranda”

Baltic Sea Algal Blooms and Dead Zones

Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea

Hazardous Substances in the Baltic Sea

Biodiversity Status of the Baltic Sea

Health Status of the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea Action Plan

Eco-cultural Health in the Sierra Tarahumara, Mexico

Sierra Tarahumara Landscape (Northern Mexico)

Rarámuri Settlement

Community Participation, Sierra Tarahumara

Rarámuri Meeting in the Field

Irrigation for Backyard Gardens

Mountain Spring Water

Laying Down Drinking Water Pipeline

Ecosystem Health in Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolian Sedentarized Herders

Overgrazing in the Inner Mongolian Grasslands

Overgrazing in the Inner Mongolian Grasslands

Desertification in Inner Mongolia

Experimental Enclosures for Grassland Regeneration

Experiments with Tree Saplings

Boulding’s Laws of the Universe

1st Law:

‘Everything that has happened is possible.’

2nd Law: ‘Not everything that is possible has yet

happened.’