Every April 7, World Health Day is celebrated, a date promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to remember the importance of guaranteeing a healthy life for all people. This year, under the slogan “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures”, the campaign focuses on the need to create environments that promote health and well-being from the earliest stages of life.
However, health is not only built in health centers, but also in the spaces we inhabit and in the quality of the environment that surrounds us. Biodiversity conservation, the renaturation of cities , and the recovery of ecosystems are key elements to ensure a healthy and resilient future for people and communities.
The health of the planet and human health are inseparable. The World Health Organization estimates that one in four diseases is related to environmental factors. The quality of the air we breathe, access to clean water, exposure to chemicals or the state of the soil directly influence our health.
Likewise, a WHO report shows that frequent contact with nature reduces stress, improves mental health, decreases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and promotes healthy development in childhood. Living in natural or renaturalized environments , even in urban contexts, is associated with longer life expectancy and a better overall quality of life .
PROJECTS THAT PROTECT BIODIVERSITY AND HEALTH
The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), through various calls for aid framed in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, promotes transformative projects throughout Spain that act on the territory to make it greener, healthier and more resilient.
In 2021 and 2022, with a budget of 120 million euros in total, two calls for aid were published to promote the renaturalisation of Spanish cities. Both aim to increase biodiversity and its conservation, as well as improve adaptation to climate change and the habitability of urban environments. Specifically, 37 projects are currently contributing to the increase of green infrastructure, the increase in the connectivity of green and blue spaces, and urban and river renaturation.
Among the projects in execution is the Viladecans 3-30-300 Plan, coordinated by the Viladecans City Council with a grant of almost 3 million euros, or the BRERA project, led by the Soria City Council with an endowment of 2 million euros.
In 2021, another call was also published, within the framework of the RTRP, for large river restoration projects, endowed with 74 million euros that are distributed in grants of between 500,000 and 4 million euros per project. The 36 selected projects aim to promote transformative actions focused on river renaturation, the reduction of flood risks and the increase of biodiversity in urban environments and their conservation.
Within this call, the projects of CINCA REVIVE, coordinated by the City Council of Fraga (Huesca) with 3 million euros, and PASEO DEL GENIL, led by the City Council of Loja (Granada), which has a grant of more than 3.5 million euros, stand out.
Likewise, in December 2024 , a new call for subsidies was launched, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), aimed at promoting actions aimed at the development and consolidation of green infrastructure for the renaturalisation and resilience of Spanish cities. This line of aid, with an endowment of close to 40 million euros, will reinforce the commitment to greener, more connected and healthier cities. The selected projects will be announced throughout 2025.
TAKING CARE OF NATURE IS TAKING CARE OF OURSELVES
On this World Health Day , we remember that health also begins outside health centers. Taking care of biodiversity, restoring ecosystems and opting for more natural urban environments is a way of taking care of our well-being.
