Global governance for pandemic prevention and the wildlife trade.

Although ideas about preventive actions for pandemics have been advanced during the COVID-19 crisis, there has been little consideration for how they can be operationalised through governance structures within the context of the wildlife trade for human consumption. To date, pandemic governance has mostly focused on outbreak surveillance, containment, and response rather than on avoiding zoonotic spillovers in the first place. However, given the acceleration of globalisation, a paradigm shift towards prevention of zoonotic spillovers is warranted as containment of outbreaks becomes unfeasible. Here, we consider the current institutional landscape for pandemic prevention in light of ongoing negotiations of a so-called pandemic treaty and how prevention of zoonotic spillovers from the wildlife trade for human consumption could be incorporated. We argue that such an institutional arrangement should be explicit about zoonotic spillover prevention and focus on improving coordination across four policy domains, namely public health, biodiversity conservation, food security, and trade. We posit that this pandemic treaty should include four interacting goals in relation to prevention of zoonotic spillovers from the wildlife trade for human consumption: risk understanding, risk assessment, risk reduction, and enabling funding. Despite the need to keep political attention on addressing the current pandemic, society cannot afford to miss the opportunity of the current crisis to encourage institution building for preventing future pandemics.

Health and Wellbeing Benefits from Nature Experiences in Tropical Settings Depend on Strength of Connection to Nature.

A growing number of policies and programmes in cities aim to increase the time people spend in nature for the health and wellbeing benefits delivered by such interactions. Yet, there is little research investigating the extent to which, and for whom, nature experiences deliver such benefits outside Europe, North America, and Australia. Here, we assessed the relationships between nature dose (frequency, duration, and intensity) and three mental wellbeing (depression, stress, and anxiety) and two physical health (high blood pressure, diabetes) outcomes in Singapore, an intensely urbanised tropical city. Our analyses accounted for individual factors, including socio-economic status, nature connection (nature relatedness), and whether people with poor health are prevented by their condition from visiting green spaces. Our results show that the association between nature dose (specifically duration) and mental wellbeing is moderated by a nature connection. Specifically, people with a stronger nature connection were less likely to be depressed, stressed, and anxious, regardless of the duration of their nature dose. For those with a weaker connection to nature, spending longer in nature was associated with being more depressed, stressed, and anxious. We did not find a relationship between nature dose and high blood pressure or diabetes. Our results highlight that the relationship between nature dose and wellbeing might vary substantially among cities.

Urban green space use during a time of stress: A case study during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brisbane, Australia.

Spending time in nature is one potential way to cope with the negative physical and psychological health impacts from major stressful life events. In 2020, a large fraction of the global population was impacted by restrictions to contain the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, a period characterised by marked health risks and behavioural changes. Here we explore whether people responded to this stressor by spending more time in nature and investigate the reasons for any changes.We surveyed 1,002 people in Brisbane, Australia in 2020, to measure the change in use of green space during the restrictions period and benefits people associated with visiting them.About 36% of participants increased their urban green space use, but 26% reduced it, indicating a great deal of flux. Furthermore, 45% of the previous non-users of urban green space began using it for the first time during the restrictions period. Older people were less likely to increase their green space use and those with a backyard were more likely to increase their use of green spaces.Participants' change in use occurred regardless of the amount of green space available in close proximity to their households. In addition, we did not find a relationship between nature-relatedness and change in use.People's reasons for green space use shifted during the pandemic-related restrictions period, with many emphasising improvement of personal well-being rather than consolidating community capital. Most participants indicated an increase in the importance of the psychological and physical benefits obtained from urban green spaces.We conclude that increased urban green space use during moments of stress such as the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to ameliorate some of the negative effects of the stressor, but that the capacity and desire to spend more time in green space varies markedly across society. Sufficient urban green space provision for all sections of society will maximise the opportunity to employ a nature-based coping mechanism during times of personal or community stress.

Pasar tiempo en la naturaleza es una forma de contrarrestar el impacto físico y psicológico que tiene los eventos estresantes en nuestras vidas. En el 2020, una gran porción de la población mundial fue impactada por las restricciones impuestas por la propagación del COVID­19, un periodo que se caracterizó por notables riesgos para la salud y cambios en el comportamiento de las personas. Aquí exploramos si las personas respondieron a este evento estresante pasando más tiempo en la naturaleza y también investigamos las razones asociadas a cualquier cambio.Encuestamos a 1002 personas en Brisbane, Australia, en el 2020, para medir el cambio en el uso de los espacios verdes públicos durante la cuarentena ocasionada por la pandemia y los beneficios que la gente ha asociado a su visita.Alrededor del 36% de los encuestados aumentaron el uso de los espacios verdes públicos urbanos y el 26% lo redujo, lo que indica un cambio en la concepción del uso durante la pandemia. Esto se confirma ya que un 45% de los encuestados que no han usado espacios verdes públicos previo a la cuarentena, lo utilizaron por primera vez. Los adultos mayores fueron menos proclive a aumentar el uso de espacios verdes y los encuestados que poseían un patio en sus hogares, tendieron a un mayor uso de los espacios verdes.Independientemente a la cantidad disponible de espacios verdes públicos en la proximidad de los hogares de los participantes, se ha producido un cambio en las visitas a espacios verdes públicos. Además, no encontramos una relación entre la conexión con la naturaleza de los participantes y el cambio de uso de espacios verdes públicos.Durante la cuarentena, los participantes han cambiado las razones por las cuales utilizaron espacios verdes públicos urbanos. Muchos participantes hicieron hincapié en los beneficios al bienestar personal en lugar de aquellos beneficios comunitarios. Por ejemplo, la mayoría de los participantes indicaron un aumento de la importancia de los beneficios psicológicos y físicos obtenidos por el uso de espacios verdes públicos urbanos.Concluimos que, en momentos de estrés, como por ejemplo la pandemia COVID­19, un aumento en el uso de espacios verdes tiene el potencial de mejorar algunos de los efectos negativos del estrés, pero que el deseo y la habilidad de pasar más tiempo en los espacios verdes varía notablemente en la sociedad. Proveer suficientes espacios verdes públicos para todos los sectores de la sociedad, maximizaría la oportunidad de emplear un mecanismo para afrontar los estreses personales o comunitarios, basado en la naturaleza. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.