A Meta-Analysis on the Health Risk of Forest-Ecosystem Degradation

Abstract

Human beings depend on the forest ecosystem besides other needs for health care and wellbeing. However the structural changes that have taken place in the past centuries especially in the forest ecosystem due to human interventions guided by capitalistic and anthropocentric approach to development have negatively affected quality of life - including health; not only by depletion and loss of medicinal plants and organism but also loss of diet and nutrition from the ecosystem, loss of indigenous health knowledge and overall ecological imbalance which is posing great risk to safety and security of human. The study attempts to analyse the effects of forest ecosystem degradation on human health from literature in the areas of environmental health, ecology and environment study. The study though articulates the relationship between forest ecosystem degradation and negative health effects, however has not been able to statistically establish this relationship as there are gaps within the existing literature and methodology and suggests for a development and application of a methodology of study to capture and fill this gap and contribute towards formulation and planning of policies and programmes that address this concern of relationship between forest ecosystem degradation and human health.