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Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health and Well-being: Reflections from Use in a Mining Context

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Abstract

This article briefly discusses the evolution of ecosystem approaches, and illustrates the use of ecosystem approaches to assess human health and well-being in a mining context. It discusses the various elements that help distinguish such approaches from other approaches. Well-being here is understood broadly in terms of its “constituents” and “determinants,” of which health is an important constituent. Ecological, health, and social assessments highlighted a number of impacts from mining activity in Goa, India. These generated a list of issues of concern that were validated by stakeholders—community, industry, and government—which served as a basis for the development of tools to track mining-induced changes in health and well-being. The article concludes by reflecting on some of the challenges posed by the use of ecosystem approaches to assessing human health and well-being.

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Acknowledgments

This article is a shortened version of a paper presented at the International Forum on Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health, Montreal, May 19–23, 2003 and is based on our research project at TERI, Goa supported by IDRC. My thanks to the anonymous reviewers who helped improve this version with their constructive suggestions. This article draws on the work done in the project “Environmental/Social Performance Indicators (ESPIs) and Sustainability Markers in Minerals Development: Reporting Progress towards Improved Health and Human Well-being: Phases I and II” supported by IDRC and reported at length in TERI (2002). The author thanks IDRC for this sponsorship and acknowledges the considerable intellectual input provided by Camilla Maclean and Alyson Warhurst at the University of Warwick, Cristina Echavarria, and Peter R. de Souza of Goa University. The development of tools would not have been possible without the research team at TERI. I specially acknowledge the enormous support of Subramanya Nairy at TERI who provided the statistical support in testing the QOL tool, and the focus groups, the mining companies, and the government officials who helped so much.

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  1. Policy Analysis Division, The Energy and Resources Institute, Darbari Seth Block, Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi, 110003, India

    Ligia Noronha

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  1. Ligia Noronha
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Correspondence to Ligia Noronha.

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Noronha, L. Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health and Well-being: Reflections from Use in a Mining Context. EcoHealth 1 (Suppl 2), SU16–SU23 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-004-0070-1

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