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Human-caused destruction of nature and human-influenced climate change are the factors in causing diseases to leap from wildlife to humans, according to leaders at the UN, WHO and WWF International.
It’s a simple concept. As humans encroach farther and farther into previously unoccupied land, they are putting themselves closer contact with habitats once only occupied by wildlife.
These creatures have nowhere else to go and end up sharing their environment with humans. More and more, forests and jungles are being devastated to make room for humans and farming. In addition, illegal poaching of wildlife also puts humans into their domain.
A new report published on Wednesday by the world wildlife foundation international (WWF) warns: “The risk of a new [wildlife-to-human] disease emerging in the future is higher than ever, with the potential to wreak havoc on health, economies and global security.”
According to the WWF report, 60-70% of the new diseases that have emerged in humans since 1990 came from wildlife. Over the same period, 178m hectares of forest have been cleared, an area of land equal to over seven times the area of the UK.
Leaders from the United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO), and WWF say that pandemics are the result of humanity’s destruction of nature, The Guardian reports.
In another article by The Guardian, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, head of the UN convention on biological diversity, Maria Neira, the World Health Organization director for environment and health, and Marco Lambertini, head of WWF International, pointed out a number of disease outbreaks that were all the result of environmental degradation causing viruses to jump from animals to humans.
“We have seen many diseases emerge over the years, such as Zika, Aids, Sars, and Ebola and they all originated from animal populations under conditions of severe environmental pressures,” the three members said in the Guardian article.
With COVID-19, they added: “these outbreaks are manifestations of our dangerously unbalanced relationship with nature. They all illustrate that our own destructive behavior towards nature is endangering our own health – a stark reality we’ve been collectively ignoring for decades.”
Earlier this month, Inger Andersen, the UN’s environment chief, who is also a leading economist, said current economic thinking does not recognize that human wealth is dependent on nature’s health. If the earth isn’t healthy, there is no bounty to be harvested from nature.
Andersen called the coronavirus pandemic an “SOS signal for the human enterprise” and said COVID-19 brings “into sharp focus the need to live within the planet’s ‘safe operating space’, and the disastrous environmental, health and economic consequences of failing to do so.”
Since March, a number of high-level figures have issued a series of warnings. Leading biodiversity experts around the world predict that even more deadly disease outbreaks will occur in the future unless steps are taken to slow or curb the rampant destruction of natural habitats.
In conclusion, the WWF report found that the main causes for diseases that move from wild animals to humans is the destruction of nature, the intensification of agriculture and livestock production, and the trading and consumption of high-risk wildlife. This is where changes need to be made.
Experts are calling for reforms on destructive farming. They urge humans to shift away from unsustainable diets that are causing destruction to the natural world and move to sustainable, green, and healthy diets.
Lastly, foundations that work for change need everyone’s support. Donate to charities that are taking action to reverse the destruction and protect the habitats of wildlife.
