Climate-Induced Medicinal Plant Decline and Its Implications for Traditional Healthcare Systems and Health Security in Nigeria (2000–2025): A Governance–Ecology–Health Systems Review

Abstract

Climate change is an emerging non-traditional security threat in the present International Relations due to its impact on environmental governance, human security and sustainable development. While the scholarship has already investigated in detail the issues of climate governance, biodiversity conservation and health security, there are limited studies that focus on how the loss of medicinal plants due to climate change impacts traditional health care systems and health security. The effect of medicinal plant loss on traditional health care systems and health security in Nigeria (2000 to 2025) is discussed. The study is of a qualitative nature, and relies on a systematic literature review (95 peer-reviewed studies, institutional reports and policy documents). Drawing on Human Security, Planetary Health, One Health, and Environmental Governance frameworks, the governance–ecology–health nexus will be explored and the linkages between climate-induced ecological disruption, the effectiveness of governance, healthcare resilience and health security outcomes will be assessed. The findings here reveal that rise in temperature, fluctuation of rainfall, drought and flooding, habitat decline, deforestation and unsustainable harvesting have been a major factor contributing to the dwindling resources of medicinal plants in Nigeria. It also points out to governance challenges that have made the effective implementation of conservation difficult such as poor policy implementation, institutional fragmentation, weak policy enforcement and lack of indigenous knowledge systems integration. This analysis reveals that the erosion of medicinal plants is not only a biodiversity loss, but it is also a threat of environmental and health security with a strong connection to health care accessibility, community resilience and health security. The study argues that ecological-disruption-health-security relationship is strongly influenced by the effectiveness of governance. The article links climate and environmental security with health security, thereby adding to the current discussions on non-traditional security in the International Relations field and why integrated governance approaches are crucial to securing health security and sustainable development in Nigeria.