Is restoring an ecosystem good for your health?

It is well known that the degradation of ecosystems can have serious impacts on human health. There is currently a knowledge gap on what impact restoring ecosystems has on human health. In restoring ecosystems there is a drive to restore the functionality of ecosystems rather than restoring ecosystems to 'pristine' condition. Even so, the complete restoration of all ecosystem functions is not necessarily possible. Given the uncertain trajectory of the ecosystem during the ecosystem restoration process the impact of the restoration on human health is also uncertain. Even with this uncertainty, the restoration of ecosystems for human health is still a necessity. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.