Dr Neil de Wet is a Public Health Medicine Physician from Aotearoa New Zealand. He has a medical,
environmental, and public health career spanning 30 years of practice and is currently the Medical
Officer of Health for the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island. With experience in
health protection and health promotion, he has particular interests and expertise in infectious
disease control, outbreak prevention and management, emergency management, environmental
health, ecology and health, public health risk assessment and risk communication. Before
specialising in public health medicine Dr de Wet undertook research and published on topics related
to climate change, ecology and health in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
In recent years, he has had a focus on exploring how the concepts of biophilia, biophilic design and
the biophilic cities movement can be applied to the practice of public health. In so doing he has led
and developed the concept of biophilic public health as a model of public health practice that has a
focus on ‘health for all’ where ‘health for all’ is not only about the health of all people but also about
the health of other species and ecosystems.
“Public health is about the health of whole populations, and has a focus on prevention. It is about
identifying and managing risks to the health of communities and preventing diseases. But this also
requires looking beyond the immediate risks, and to the wider social and environmental context and
long-term view of what affects people’s health,” says Dr de Wet. “Therefore, in the 21st century
public health practice has to be about not just the health of people but also about the health of
other species and ecosystems, especially because for humans to thrive and be healthy we need the
natural world around us to be flourishing and healthy.”
“At its heart, biophilia is about the centrality of our biological and emotional connections with
nature for our health and well-being. It is about how valuing, appreciating, and experiencing nature,
plants, animals, ecosystems, natural landforms, natural elements and beauty, enriches and
nourishes our lives. Perhaps most importantly, it is an idea and language that helps rediscover,
redefine and transform our perception of nature where our relationship and interactions with the
natural world become characterised by words such as ‘love and respect’, ‘nurture and care’, ‘wonder
and awe’, ‘curiosity’, ‘reverence’, ‘exploration and mystery’ and ‘humility’- rather than ‘the
environment’, ‘natural resources’, and ‘natural capital’. Therefore, biophilic public health is a model
of public health practice that is defined by the love, awe, and respect for nature – and ‘all things
living’.”

Qualifications and professional memberships:
 Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery
 Master of Philosophy (Environmental Science)
 Master of Public Health
 New Zealand Medical Council Vocational Registration (Public Health Medicine)
 Fellow of the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine (NZCPHM)
 Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (AFPHM)