Biodiversity and health: Investing in biodiversity protection towards health gains Carla Viegas 1,2,3* , Gabriela Moniz 4 , João Pargana 4 , Susana Marques 4 , Catarina Resende 5 , Carla Martins 2,3 , Ana Paula Arez 6 , Nadia Ceratto 4 , Susana Viegas 1,2,3 1 H&TRC- Health & Technology Research Center, ESTeSL- Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa. 2 NOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Centre, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. 3 Comprehensive Health Research Center (CHRC) 4 Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests, Ministry for the Environment and Climate Action 5 Directorate General of Marine Policy, Ministry of the Sea 6 Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal. *Corresponding author: carla.viegas@estesl.ipl.pt (ESTeSL – Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa, Av. D. João II, Lote 4.69.01 | 1990-096 Lisbon, Portugal) Abstract Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history and the direct drivers of change in nature with the largest global impact are related to human activities: land and sea use changes; direct exploitation of organisms; climate change; pollution; and invasion of alien species. The One Health approach, and other holistic approaches, integrates human, animal, and plant health, as well as the health of their shared environment, informing and supporting a multidisciplinary and holistic approach that integrates monitoring, planning, and evaluation to optimize co-benefits and outcomes for public health. This chapter intends to provide a systematic overview on how conserving nature and biodiversity can contribute to improve the implementation of the One Health and other holistic approaches, to prevent new pandemics and to promote well-being. A detailed analysis regarding how the targets in the updated zero draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework can contribute to improve the implementation of the One Health or other holistic approaches was performed, aiming to support the ambition and commitment needed. Additionally, a list of indicators is proposed to guarantee a suitable monitoring framework and to adequately incorporate the value of biodiversity for health, well-being, and more specifically contributing to the reduction of the risk of new pandemics. This work highlights the importance of preventing biodiversity loss for human health and well-being. The linkages between biodiversity and human health reinforce the need of holistic approaches such as One Health to understand the intricate linkages between the health of plants, animals, humans, and our shared environment. Keywords: One Health approach; Biodiversity; Research and Innovation; Public health; Global biodiversity framework