Why isolated thinking falls short, and why Nature-Based Health Promotion is essential!
The countries of Asia, Africa, and South America treat their respective traditional medicine and naturopathy with pride and respect. They view tradition as a living force that inspires and teaches the present while embracing the latest technologies and innovations for diagnostics. Pulse diagnosis, a centuries-old practice in traditional medicine, is not being replaced by mod-ern technologies, but rather enhanced by them. Through AI, sensors, spectroscopy, and digitiza-tion, it is becoming more precise, more accessible, and more scientifically sound. This approach is already being successfully applied—particularly in countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and India—both in clinical practice and in research. This is supported locally through political action, funding, and research projects. Health policymakers in these countries view the United Nations’ (UN) “One Health” approach as a nature-based framework that implements the 17 Sus-tainable Development Goals and the social approach of the Ottawa Charter* to protect the planet and its biodiversity.
Unfortunately, we in European countries are far from a similar vantage point of traditional med-icine and naturopathy. Health policy at best merely tolerates traditional medicine and naturop-athy; increasingly they are being banished from the state healthcare system and pushed to the private market. There is little evidence of a welcoming or appreciative attitude. WHO Europe in Copenhagen ignores global developments in traditional medicine.
The European Union countries have subjected themselves to a dogma of scientific evidence, safety, and efficacy that has become a straitjacket stifling life and development. If the EU’s cen-tral goal of “Health in All Policies” is to be credibly implemented, I believe a nature-based foundation is indispensable! To achieve this, traditional medicine and naturopathy must present themselves with more confidence and visibility.
In 2000, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) adopted a resolution defining nature-based solutions. According to this resolution, nature-based measures encompass actions aimed at the protection, conservation, restoration, sustainable use, and management of natural or modified land, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems. These measures effectively and adaptively address social, economic, and environmental challenges while contributing to human well-being, holistic resilience, and biodiversity. This resolution, adopting a nature-based per-spective, explicitly includes humans as part of the planet's biodiversity. A nature-based envi-ronmental and ecological policy aims to lead to a circular economy that fosters health—including physical, mental, and social well-being. [For further details, see**.]
The term "nature-based" should not be presented as the opposite of "evidence-based"; rather, in my view, it represents the actual implementation of the "One Health" concept described above. Indeed, the two approaches can complement one another: while "evidence-based" in the context of health policy primarily refers to the scientific validation of medical indications and interventions, a nature-based perspective expands the frame of reference to include ecological, social, and lived-experience contexts. It is essential to broaden our view to encompass wider interconnections and effects that are inadequately captured by conventional medical study designs. This clearly highlights the outstanding importance of expanded nature-based research approaches for the assessment of traditional medicine and naturopathy!
Consider the example, "as above, so below": The macrobiome—our external environment, comprised of a diversity of microbes, plants, animals, and humans—and the microbiome—a mucosa-associated system within the human body—do not exist in isolation from nature but rather in a nature-based symbiosis. From this we can infer just how heavily human well-being depends on biodiverse soil life. Organic farming operates without synthetic pesticides, thereby protecting insects as well as our food and water. In other words, in a truly nature-based way!
Traditional medicine and naturopathy are therefore not on the periphery, but at the very cen-ter of all future structural developments; the modalities reflect these developments and create innovative solutions in harmony with nature for a future worth living. This is clearly demon-strated by our medicinal products: while allopathic single-agent drugs contaminate our water as endocrine disruptors—and generate plastic and hazardous waste due to quality assurance pro-cesses that are not nature-based—these issues are either negligible or non-existent in tradition-al medicine and naturopathy. Inevitably, the following questions arise: What exactly is "nature"? Can "nature" even be defined? What happens when pristine, purely biological nature becomes increasingly scarce? Is the transformation of nature itself a natural process? Biodiversity and the evolution of nature are tied to the conditions on our planet—a planet that, on a grand scale, is part of a universal nature. This knowledge forms the basis for healing through the forces of na-ture, in which we can place our trust.
The assumption is obvious that despite all its advanced digital technology, European policy re-mains deeply entrenched in the monocausal and profit-driven thinking of the 19th century. Exploitation of the planet, forced displacement of people, the commodification of the social sector, and environmental pollution characterize the expertise of expensive expert councils and management consultancies. Consequently, the implementation of a nature-based One Health approach still seems a long way off. Simply slapping a “One Health” label on something is noth-ing more than deceptive branding.
Traditional medicine and naturopathy must rediscover their power and work together across disciplines and professions to promote nature-based health. It makes sense to forge close alli-ances with environmental and species conservation efforts, and to develop joint research pro-jects. To this end, the often-cited holistic approach would not be limited to body, mind, and spirit, but would also take into account social, environmental, and the interconnectedness of micro and macrocosmic aspects.
* https://iris.who.int/items/9e6f3c72-3669-4f82-a3e2-990b1c4df471