The relationship between health and conservation: lessons from rural East Africa

CHASE Africa promotes an integrated approach which recognises the deep connection between human and environmental health and wellbeing.

We take a holistic approach to addressing these linkages in remote rural areas by focusing on women and girls, improving access to healthcare, supporting sustainable livelihoods, building climate resilience and tackling the degradation of natural resources.

Why is this important?

The links between human and environmental health are being increasingly recognised worldwide. Much focus has been given to infectious disease risks, but there are broader human health issues that have biodiversity relevance.

Through 25 years of working in East Africa, CHASE Africa has seen how the issues are connected at a community and ecosystem level. Our work over this time has expanded, and we now support projects in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.Access to health information and services is extremely limited in the remote rural areas we focus on, leaving many communities underserved. Millions of women who wish to delay or avoid pregnancy are unable to access modern contraception because of this and other physical, educational, social and cultural barriers. This unmet need for family planning is particularly high in rural areas. Unintended pregnancies not only pose serious health risks for women and infants, they also limit women’s and girls’ educational and economic opportunities, reducing their ability to participate in conservation and natural resource management.

Yet healthy ecosystems are essential for human survival, providing food, water and livelihoods. Disruption of ecosystems threatens biodiversity and can have severe consequences for human health and wellbeing.

Vast areas of biodiverse land lie outside protected parks, where communities and wildlife coexist. Community-focused conservation efforts are crucial in these regions. For these to succeed, the benefits of conservation need to positively impact local communities, including by improving access to core social needs, such as health, education and water, as well as having economic benefits.

On top of this,

climate change is exacerbating the existing challenges communities experience and creating new ones, including extreme weather events, shifts in disease patterns, food and water insecurity and displacement. Rural communities, whose lives and livelihoods depend heavily on natural resources, are the most vulnerable to these impacts.

Focusing on women and girls

Our community health programmes go beyond improving access to healthcare; they break down barriers that prevent women from accessing services and realising their sexual and reproductive health and rights. We advocate for women’s rights by providing health information to the whole community, facilitating dialogues where cultural and social norms can be openly discussed and challenged, and training youth peer mentors. Our programmes address harmful cultural practices, such as early marriage, female genital mutilation and teenage pregnancy, encouraging change within communities.

Many of our partners also run initiatives to economically empower women and young people. By addressing the unmet need for family planning, we not only improve women’s health but also enable women to engage in activities that generate broader economic and social benefits. When women have better health, more time and a stronger voice in their communities, they are more likely to participate in alternative livelihoods, environmental conservation and sustainable resource management.

Integrating activities within communities

We support partners to run a range of environmental activities in the same communities where our health programmes operate. This includes supporting kitchen gardens to diversify income, build climate resilience, and improve health through better nutrition. It also includes introducing fuel-efficient stoves to reduce deforestation and indoor air pollution, and promoting sustainable natural resource management to restore rangelands and forests.

Through all these activities, there are opportunities for cross-messaging on both environmental and human health.

Building resilience to climate change

Healthy individuals and communities are better equipped to withstand climate-related challenges, such as extreme weather events, food insecurity and disease outbreaks.

Strengthening reproductive health services at the community level fosters resilience by promoting gender equality, community engagement, social cohesion and adaptive capacity. At the same time, empowering individuals and communities to make choices about their reproductive health enables them to better plan for and respond to climate-related challenges.

Our work towards wider influencing and advocacy

Over the past five years, we have demonstrated the role that conservation organisations can play in addressing community health needs. We have shared our experience with numerous conservation organisations and funders, advocating for their involvement in this approach. Currently, we are developing a set of tools and resources so that other organisations can replicate our approach.

We have also contributed to the international debate around the importance of removing barriers to rights-based, voluntary family planning through our membership of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Task Force on Biodiversity and Family Planning. The taskforce was established in response to the urgent need for biodiversity and conservation policies and practices to evolve, reflecting the realities of the 21st century and embracing more holistic approaches.

This work is helping CHASE Africa gain greater influence as we champion the need for wider recognition of the links between human and environmental health, and action where it is needed the most.