Nature is critical to our survival, it provides us with oxygen, regulates weather patterns, pollinates our crops, produces our food and hosts wildlife. Unfortunately, humans continue mounting immense threat on nature; pressing wildlife and ecosystems into extinction and destruction. According to the 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service, around one million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction, many will be no more within just a few years!
Research has shown that the health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating at a terrifyingly high rate; affecting the very fundamentals of our livelihoods, food security, economies, health and quality of life. The health of our Nature also plays a critical role in the rise of zoonotic diseases; as humans continue to alter nearly every part of Nature, humans are increasingly getting into contact with new vectors, rising the risk of disease emergence and spread. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), seventy-five percent of all emerging infectious diseases in humans cross from animals, these include the deadly Ebola, Bird-flu and the recent Coronavirus whose first case was traced from a wet market of Wuhan City of China. It is clearer that if we can carefully manage nature, we manage human health.
Climate change and its negative impacts also stems from the destruction of nature. Changes in temperature, humidity & seasonality directly affect the survival of microbes in the environment; and evidence suggests that disease epidemics will become more frequent, as the climate continues to change. Pandemics like the COVID-19 are a red flag that Nature is sending its strongest warning that humans must change the way they interact with ecosystems. We must revisit our relationship with nature and build a better sustainable planet. We are challenged to act faster and smarter with cost effective and sustainable strategies to restore and protect nature we all depend on and reduce risks of future pandemics by restoring Nature and biodiversity, fighting climate change and reducing pollution.