How biodiversity can save us from pandemic.
From testing to hospitalizations to economic recovery efforts, responses to the COVID-19 pandemic are projected to cost the global economy US$ 5.6 trillion dollars this year.
A new study published today in Science outlines a groundbreaking plan to decrease the risk of future pandemics by 27 percent or more — with a 10-year investment that is 50 times less than the cost of coronavirus response efforts to date.
Developed by a group of public health experts, ecologists, economists and epidemiologists, the strategy is three-pronged: reduce deforestation, restrict the global wildlife trade and monitor the emergence of new viruses before they spread.
To understand why protecting nature is key to saving the global economy — and countless lives, Conservation News spoke to three of the study’s co-authors: Conservation International scientists Lee Hannah, Jorge Ahumada and Patrick Roehrdanz, (P.Kiley,2020).
Carbon Tanzania’s projects protect community owned forests and the biodiversity that lives in them, and they do this while contributing to the global efforts to mitigate climate change. As the Covid-19 pandemic has taken hold of countries around the world, the response of governments, companies and individuals has been sudden, rapid and extreme.
Policies have been introduced by governments who would have eschewed them in normal times, individuals have profoundly altered their daily habits and behaviour, and companies have been forced, often unwillingly, to adjust to either a lack of business, new business opportunities or temporary financial restrictions.
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