The societal and economic impacts of COVID-19 are devastating and we need to realise how humanity’s relationship with nature contributes to the emergence of these diseases, to stop it from happening again.
New zoonotic diseases, which jump from animals to humans, have increasingly emerged in recent decades. These include Ebola, SARS and, most recently, COVID-19.
This unwelcome increase has been driven by destroying forests and other natural habitats for agriculture and taking wild animals out of their natural homes to trade or farm intensively – both of which leads to higher levels of contact between wildlife and humans.
Humanity’s increasing destruction of nature is having catastrophic impacts not only on wildlife populations but also on human health and all aspects of our lives.
Do something about itAlmost all of our economic activity relies on nature. If we don’t tackle the nature loss crisis, we risk huge disruption to the world’s economies and harm to the lives and livelihoods of many millions.
Learn moreThousands of species of plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms are used for food. A vast range of others are essential to food production – ranging from pollinators that enable crop reproduction to microorganisms that enrich soils.
Learn moreA wide variety of thinkers and practitioners from around the world to share their unique views on how, as a global community, we could build a resilient and healthy planet for people and nature in a post COVID-19 world.
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