Healing Our Planet

_Elsa_

However, Tiffi relaxing in front of a television doesn’t last for long. Her curiosity on how to make the world a better place prompts her to go back to her googling.

‘Over the past few months a stark realization has begun to sink in: our bodies are getting sick because our planet has been sick for a long time. The COVID-19 pandemic of today is merely another in a line of global pandemics – ebola, SARS, MERS, and bird flu – and there is no reason to believe this trend will stop anytime soon.

While the starting points and the symptoms of each pandemic may differ, the underlying cause is the same: human behavior is weakening the ecosystems that often serve as a buffer between humans and animals that are infected with diseases. As John Vidal, a long-time environmental journalist, and Kate Jones, the Director of the Biodiversity Modeling Research Group at University College, London, recently noted, “ The disruption of pristine forests driven by logging, mining, road building through remote places, rapid urbanisation and population growth is bringing people into closer contact with animal species they may never have been near before.” 

Another massive driver of diseases is the trade of wild animals for food, medicine, and to satisfy exotic tastes in luxury goods. The start of the Covid-19 virus has been traced to a “wet market” in Wuhan, China where stores were selling a variety of wild, caged animals such as wolf cubs.

The resulting transmission of disease from wildlife to humans is now a massive – and wasted – cost of human economic development. Instead of investing in our future, we will be spending precious time and scarce resources reacting to the spread of deadly diseases. The Covid-19 virus alone will have a global economic impact well in excess of $1 trillion – just in 2020. That does not account for the lasting economic consequences that will go on for years and, more significantly, the human tragedy that has touched each of us.

Finding a Balance - Despite the inherent risks posed due to increasing contact between humans and wild animals, we simply cannot halt the illegal wildlife trade or stop economic development that uses natural resources or encroaches on ecosystems. With increased international trade laws and dedicated law enforcement, the illegal wildlife trade has moved further into the shadows of the economy, causing decreased regulation of wildlife and associated zoonotic diseases. And as the world approaches a global population of 8 billion, increased resource consumption and anthropogenic land use both heightens the demand for wildlife products while also drastically reducing wildlife habitats. 

However, a handful of concrete steps can be taken to ease the damage we are inflicting on ecosystems and begin to rebuild boundaries between humans and animals. First, we need to absorb the knowledge of indigenous populations.  Second, we can deploy better scenario planning with tools already at our disposal.  Third, we need better collaboration across all sectors of the economy. Perhaps even more fundamental than collaboration there must be a greater appreciation for the connectivity that sustains all of us. Communities need the economic benefits that come from commercial activity. Not all business is bad and, when appropriately managed, it creates value for society. 

Companies must better appreciate that Earth’s natural resources have a finite limit. If (or when) we run out of bedrock resources such as clean water, timber, and farmable land, economic activity will cease to function as it will become impossible to produce goods and services. Rather than consuming natural resources with pure self interest in mind, businesses must do more to reinvest in nature and give it the time and space it needs to regenerate. They must also better appreciate the mutual dependence between local communities and ecosystems. Therefore, it is in everyone’s best interests to approach economic development from the perspective of connectedness rather than one of competing interests.’ (Source)

Let’s continue - How Nature Can Help Heal Our Planet

Start at the beginning - The ecosystem and how it relates to endangered species