We sometimes take for granted the benefits that nature and biodiversity — the variety and interconnectedness of all living things — provide to us. Functioning ecosystems give us the air we breathe and the water we drink. Pollinators help to sow seeds of new growth and healthy wetlands can protect us from storms and flooding. So, it is without exaggeration that the health of nature and who call her home, including humans, are interrelated.
Being in nature can positively impact our mental and physical health. Scientists have known this for years, but there is a growing body of research that shows measurable benefits to being specifically around wildlife in nature. Green spaces, including forests, parks and gardens, can make us healthier, but green spaces with wildlife may provide their own unique benefit. Failure to conserve nature and wildlife together may, therefore, negatively impact health and diminish these benefits.
Nature and wildlife are also incredibly important to human health through another channel: pharmaceutical development. Many of the most impactful drugs in human history, such as penicillin and aspirin, were directly derived from nature. Failing to conserve nature can prevent future pharmaceutical breakthroughs from ever happening.
Let’s learn about the multitude of human health benefits nature and wildlife can provide.
Wildlife Can Improve Our Mental and Physical Health
The relationship between wildlife and mental health has been studied with birds, marine life and biodiversity more generally. Some researchers and cultures recognize an innate human need to feel connected with nature and wildlife.
Researchers have found that when observing wildlife, people reported feeling a sense of enhanced wellbeing, decreased stress and depression and in some cases increased social cohesion. One study even showed a positive association between plant and bird species diversity and improved mental health. Simply being around wildlife helps to naturally reduce stress.
Some research suggests a link between nature and physical health, including cardiovascular or musculoskeletal health. This link is likely indirect and often stems from associated physical activity, like hiking, that people engage in when outdoors and observing wildlife. Further, biodiversity can offer immune system benefits. A review of 23 studies found extensive evidence suggesting that diverse environmental microbiota is essential for a strong immune system.
A 2026 study found that bird watchers showed positive healthy brain markers. Researchers performed multiple brain scans while asking bird watchers to identify both common, local birds and non-local species. They found that the extensive training required to become an expert bird watcher modifies brain structure and activity. Regions of the brain involving attention and perception had structural modifications in expert bird watchers that were engaged when identifying non-local birds. Researchers state their findings suggest that this type of knowledge acquisition might mitigate age-related decline.
Nature and Pharmaceutical Development
Communities have relied on natural and herbal remedies for tens of thousands of years. Even today, 80% of the global population depends on herbal medicine for their healthcare needs, and a significant portion of modern pharmaceuticals are derived from nature.
Penicillin, which has saved hundreds of millions of lives, was first derived from the mold fungus Penicillium chrysogenum. Quinine, an early treatment for malaria which has also saved millions of lives, was extracted from the bark of the cinchona tree, found in South America’s tropical Andean forests. Another tree’s bark, that of the willow, produces a compound that led to the creation of aspirin. Research on the venom of the Gila monster, a lizard found in the southwestern United States and Mexico, has led to revolutionary GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic.
Nature can serve as a massive pharmaceutical laboratory, carrying out countless experiments over billions of years. As species compete with each other and evolve, they often develop unique or unusual compounds to help them survive. Unfortunately, some of the ecosystems that offer particularly high potential for pharmaceutical development are under severe threat.
Scientists estimate that over 20,000 compounds with pharmaceutical potential could exist within coral reefs. These are some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet but because of climate change, coral reefs are at risk of collapse.
Similarly, tropical rain forests may contain many undiscovered pharmaceutically important compounds, but they are under severe threat of destruction and deforestation.
It is also important to recognize some people and communities do not have equitable access to nature and may not, therefore, have positive experiences with wildlife.
Urbanization can make it difficult to find and visit green spaces and parks, which can lead to what some researchers call the extinction of experience. People living in urban settings can also have negative perceptions of wildlife as their exposure is often limited to rodents and other animals viewed as vermin. Increased urbanization and habitat degradation and loss create a disconnect between people and the natural world.
This culmination of research emphasizes what is at stake in the midst of the biodiversity loss crisis. The health of our planet and of people are so closely connected that we have a responsibility to conserve the natural world on which we depend.
Together we can create a world full of healthy environments and ecosystems in which both wildlife and people can thrive.
Author
Natalie Madden
