The synthesis report, ecosystems and human well-being: health synthesis, was briefly introduced in this paper. This report indicates:① Ecosystems and their services are indispensable to the health of people everywhere. The causal links between ecosystem changes and human health are complex because often they are indirect, displaced in space and time, and dependent on a number of modifying forces. ② Human societies have achieved benefits for health by restructuring and managing various ecosystems in the second half of the twentieth century. However, these gains have been achieved at increasing cost. ③ In the scenarios with more promising health prospects, the number of undernourished children is reduced, while under a less optimistic scenario, the number of malnourished children increases. The health and social conditions for rich and poor countries diverge and a negative spiral of poverty, declining health and degraded ecosystems could develop. ④ Measures to ensure ecological sustainability could safeguard ecosystem services and therefore benefit health in the long term. To achieve the goal of enhancing human health while converving ecosystems, wide-ranging reforms of governance, institutions, laws and policies are required.