Global health. The current scenario and future perspectives

99 Latin America holds 20% of the global biodiversity and 10% of the world’s freshwater reserves (IUCN, 2015). In the Andean systems of Latin America like salt flats, Andean lagoons and wetlands, extreme environments house wild species that existed long before humans and have high endemism (fish, plants). This means that they have a very restricted distribution and are unique. If they disappear from their habitat, they vanish completely and become extinct. Furthermore, the coasts of Latin America are home to estuaries, mangroves, marshes and fjords that receive nutrients from rivers and, thus, foster coastal productivity and support artisanal fishing. Mangroves play a vital role in carbon sequestration and coastal protection, along with peat wetlands, which are ecosystems that retain large amounts of water and are more efficient carbon storers than terrestrial forests. They are limited to a few spots in the Southern Hemisphere, some Andean tropical areas, and occupy only 5% of the total global surface area (Lappalainen, 1996). They serve as a lifeline in climate change. Biodiversity also provides cultural services, which are social contributions often undervalued because they are not exchangeable or monetizable goods. However, they are of vital importance for social relationships and other aspects of human well-being, like the contemplation of aesthetic beauty, recreation and spiritual well-being, all of which contribute to overall well-being and mental health (Marselle, 2019). However, biological and biogeochemical processes are limited and disrupted when ecosystem health is lost. The contributions provided by biodiversity are declining due to intensive and persistent human modifications and disturbances to natural systems. We are losing habitats, species and the quality of soils, rivers, lakes and wetlands. The health of ecosystems is crucial for a safe planetary condition, as indicated by various reports from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES, 2016, 2018, 2019). However, as early as 2003, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) presented alarming results. It was the first global report to assess ecosystem health on the planet (MA, 2003) and it included a special report on wetland ecosystems and human well-being (MA, 2005). These reports already warned about the loss of ecosystems due to urban expansion, changes in land use, eutrophication, pollution, overexploitation of wild and domesticated species for industrial use and human consumption, introduction of invasive exotic species and increased water extraction. Fifteen years after the evidence presented by the MA (2005), each area of intervention has worsened, and biodiversity degradation and loss have increased. 75% of the global land surface has been transformed and 85% of wetlands have been lost. Despite these alarming figures, we can reverse the current situation.