Exploring the relationship between health and the environment is not new. The health effects of air and water pollution, for example, have been common knowledge for decades. But looking at the links between human health and the conservation of biodiversity is a relatively new concept. Many populations around the world are keenly aware of their utter dependence on the biodiversity around them – and the need to conserve it in order to ensure their own health and development. If there are, indeed, naturally occurring connections between community development and conservation, how can we identify and promote them? If health is a strong motivational force for conservation, how can we best harness it to reach conservation goals? What are some of the characteristics of community-based conservation and development projects that successfully link human health to conservation? What have others in the field learned about the opportunities and challenges to make this link work for conservation? These are the questions that drove our research. This research project was a collaborative effort between BSP's Analysis and Adaptive Management (AAM) Program and Conservation International's Healthy Communities Initiative (HCI). HCI manages a portfolio of projects from Africa, Asia, and Latin Amearica that aim to conserve biodiversity by aligning community development priorities with conservation goals. HCI's central hypothesis is that community well-being and environmental quality are linked. HCI projects address social development priorities in ways that build bridges between the well-being of people and the sustainability of the environment around them.