Among government agencies, practitioners and researchers there is growing interest in the potential of natural environments for human health and wellbeing. In parallel, conserving biodiversity is seen as critical in this effort. Likewise, spiritual well-being is increasingly considered as an important dimension of human health. This chapter examines the interrelationship between biodiversity and spiritual well-being. We first consider what spiritual well-being is. Then, based on a review of literature, we discuss four themes that illustrate biodiversity and spiritual well-being relationships, including: (i) influence of spiritual traditions on biodiversity; (ii) sacred places as repositories of biodiversity; (iii) the spiritual domain within ecosystems services; and (iv) the effects of biodiversity on spiritual wellbeing. We bring these strands together in a conceptual model and discussion of measurement issues that can inform future research.

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