Heal the Earth, Heal your Health

Every day we depend on biodiversity (the sheer variety of life found on Earth) to keep us alive and healthy. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the foods we eat and the medications we take are all by-products of a healthy planet.

But our world, and the diversity of life it supports, is under threat. Deforestation, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, draining of wetlands, climate change, globalization and other factors of modern life are wiping out species and damaging ecosystems at unprecedented rates.

When we damage the Earth, we damage our own health. Human beings are as susceptible as any other species.

Every breath we take depends on another life, another species. Many of the global health challenges that we face today, including infectious diseases, malnutrition and noncommunicable diseases, are all linked to the decline of biodiversity and ecosystems.

When we think of the spread of infectious diseases, like malaria, we must think about the insect that helps transport the disease to humans— the mosquito. As forests are destroyed, mosquito diversity is being reduced and only the strongest species are surviving. And in many cases the strongest mosquito in the forest is the best at transmitting malaria.

Meanwhile, large-scale human transformation of the environment has also brought us in closer contact with wildlife that harbour many pathogens including the Ebola virus and Lyme disease.

ECO VIDYA NATURALS in collaboration with ECO Villages across the globe. Support ecovillages, educate the world about them, and grow the regenerative movement – to inspire, scale and facilitate communities and people from all walks of life to become active participants in the transition to a resilient and regenerative human presence on Earth. An ecovillage is a traditional or intentional community with the goal of becoming more socially, culturally, economically, and/or ecologically sustainable.

What is an ecovillage?

Ecovillages are small, self-sufficient communities that live from and for their natural surroundings. There are more than 10,000 ecovillages in the world, mainly in rural areas where their inhabitants build societies based on cooperation, self-sufficiency, renewable energies and ecological materials.

Most ecovillages have between 50 and 250 inhabitants.

Ecovillages or ecological communities

The origin of these communities is unknown, but they received international recognition in 1995 during a global meeting of ecovillages held in Scotland. This symposium led to the creation of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), which laid the foundations of the current movement and now a bridge that connects thousands of projects on five continents.

In 1991, American philosopher Robert Gilman, one of the main theorists of these ecological communities, defined them as human-scale, full-featured settlements in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future.

The development of ecovillages is based on one basic principle: concern for people and the environment. They encourage a way of life characterised by solidarity and ecology, where members of a community help each other to create more ethical, fairer and more egalitarian societies.

Ecovillages usually have between 50 and 250 inhabitants, although some have more than 1,000. The entire population has shared objectives and they work together to achieve them. How? They organise regular meetings where they share experiences and drive sustainable economic, societal, cultural and environmental practices.

The benefits of ecovillages

  They use natural resources

Respect for nature includes using renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power. They also build with ecological materials like mud, wood and straw.

  They educate the community

Ecovillages promote positive values like ecology, solidarity, equality, tolerance, generosity, diversity, hospitality, respect, collaboration among people and self-sufficiency.

  Successful coexistence

Commitment to these ideals encourages dialogue and participation in communities that resolve disputes through discussion and whose members are more likely to take part in decision making.

  Responsible economy

They choose regenerative technologies and activities, such as bioclimatic architecture and organic agriculture, and do not use machinery or chemical pesticides that harm the land. They therefore consume less energy and are favour the fight against global warming.

Ecovillages contribute to sustainable development

Around 3,500 million people — that's 50% of the world population — live in cities. According to the United Nations, this number will have risen to 5,000 million by 2030. According to this organisation, the metropolis — barely 3% of the world's land area — uses between 60% and 80% of total energy and produces 75% of carbon emissions.

The United Nations warns that urbanisation is also threatening fresh water supplies, waste water and public health. The international community fears that the damage may be irreversible, which has drawn attention to the sustainable model in ecovillages. They set an example of how to make progress without endangering the future of the planet.

The best GEN initiatives in 2017 — which received the Hildur Jackson Award — were an alternative childbirth centre in Kenya, a project in Mexico to rebuild areas affected by earthquakes in Puebla and Chiapas in a sustainable manner, and a plan to build accessible homes with scrap materials in rural areas of India.

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Limits to food and medicine production

As the world’s population continues to grow, competition for land and water resources to produce food, energy and housing is fierce.

We need a wide variety of animal and plant life for adequate human nutrition so that populations are neither malnourished nor obese. Rich biodiversity provides ecosystems with natural pest management, soils with nutrients needed for healthy crops, and the insects that are needed to pollinate plants like olive, almond and apple trees.

We rely on biodiversity to produce traditional medicines and aide in the development of pharmaceuticals that keep our communities healthy. Plant biodiversity provides both health and economic benefits, as plants have been the single greatest source of natural medicines to date – from aspirin to cancer drugs. When we lose plant species, we lose the opportunity to discover potential drugs in the future.

Today and NOW let’s urge everyone to take action to keep our planet healthy. All of us have a role to play. It starts with protecting our natural resources and consuming with care. After all, there is only one Earth, but more than 7 billion lives depending on its precious resources.

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