July-august, 2020 | @Forest
Environment
p05
Valuing nature
Deforestation and disruption of ecosystem
service such as watersheds can cause human
displacement
June 5 marked World Environment Day. The
muted commemorations this year do not mask the
harsh realities confronting Nature and Mankind.
This year’s theme is biodiversity, an urgent and
existential concern.
It has taken a global pandemic to demonstrate
the interdependence between human and planetary
health. The emergence of Covid-19 has
underscored that upsetting the delicate balance of nature
creates ideal conditions for pathogens and viruses to spread.
The more biodiverse an ecosystem, the harder it is
for pathogens to spread rapidly as disease risk is diluted
through high host species diversity. Biodiversity loss creates
more monoculture species and this enables pathogens to
transmit.
Globally it is estimated that about one billion cases of
illness occur every year from diseases caused by coronaviruses
and about 75 per cent of all emerging infectious
diseases in humans are zoonotic, meaning that they are
transmitted to humans from animals.
Global travel, trade and connectivity, high-density living
and climate change have brought wildlife closer to human
settlements, amplifying the risk of zoonotic infections.
According to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report,
biodiversity loss is the second most likely and third most
impactful risk for the next decade. Biodiversity loss has critical
implications for humanity, such as the collapse of food
and health systems. Addressing zoonotic disease emergence
and spread requires a concerted effort among governments,
businesses and individuals.
Governments have a huge role to play. Local and national
level legislation must be strengthened to prevent wildlife
from being farmed, hunted and sold illegally. Similarly,
there needs to be greater multilateral regional and global
cooperation on wildlife protection. With increasingly
porous geographical borders and sophistication brought
about by the advancement in technology, wildlife traders
have found it easy to move their prized assets.
State-level penalties need to be increased significantly
as they currently pale in comparison to the market value of
wildlife specimens seized, making it a poor deterrent.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITIES) has 183 States
party to it. Despite the significant level of global commitment,
the lack of State-level border enforcement and weak
cross-border cooperation among states have allowed wildlife
trade to flourish.
Such treaties seem to place a greater focus on the trade
of endangered wildlife and their use for research purposes
without really addressing the issue of wildlife force breeding
and mass hunting within national jurisdictions.
Species such as horseshoe bats, civet cats, guinea fowl,
wild boar and bamboo rats are still being farmed and hunted
extensively in Southeast Asia and sold to mass markets.
Each species has a role to play in the ecosystem. For
instance, vultures feeding on animal carcasses indirectly
prevent the spread of rabies. The uncontrolled commercial
exploitation of these species lead to reduced species diversity
in the wild and amplify the spread of diseases.
Businesses need to play their part too. Businesses must
start recognising Nature as a form of capital and realise
their financial bottom line rests upon the finite limits of the
ecosystem. There must be an investment in natural capital in
regions where businesses operate in, especially for agribusinesses.
Investment is required to conserve, restore and protect
forests and wetlands which are home to a rich species of
wildlife.
The rehabilitation of such landscapes strengthen ecosystem
connectivity and enrich species diversity. Businesses
must ensure community livelihoods in these landscapes
are protected and sustained too.
Deforestation and disruption of ecosystem service such
as watersheds can cause human displacement and further
CAPTAIN
PLANET
By Kavickumar Muruganathan
According to a World
Economic Forum (WEF)
report, biodiversity
loss is the second
most likely and third
most impactful risk
for the next decade.
Biodiversity loss has
critical implications
for humanity, such as
the collapse of food
and health systems.
Addressing zoonotic
disease emergence
and spread requires
a concerted effort
among governments,
businesses and
individuals.”
exacerbate the transmission of zoonotic diseases. Uprooting
large populations from their community habitats increase
their vulnerability to biological threats and make them
agents of disease transmission.
These local indigenous communities come with centuries
of traditional conservation-based knowledge that would
be critical in corporate-driven ecosystem and landscape
preservation efforts.
While innovative technologies are critical in the search
for new vaccines against Covid-19, pharmaceutical companies
must be mindful that answers may lie in nature-based
therapeutic options over advanced synthetic biology. After
all, around 50 per cent of modern drugs and vaccines are
developed from natural products that are threatened by
biodiversity loss.
As individuals, we have a critical role in combatting the
emergence and spread of zoonotic diseases. We need to
exercise our choice as a currency, making informed decisions
on the clothes we buy and the food we consume among
other things.
We need to raise our level of consciousness on the true
cost of what we are consuming and not the face value of what
we purchase. This means making an informed purchasing
decision by verifying, for instance, the source of the raw
material of a product and the attainment of sustainability
certifications to internationally recognised standards such
as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or Fair Trade
labels.
We need to steer away from shareholder capitalism and
exercise stakeholder capitalism by questioning the environmental
and social practices of the companies we invest in
and purchase from.
As individuals, we hold the key to ensuring businesses
do not create dangerously unsustainable food circuits, be it
importing exotic wildlife species or force breeding poultry
through artificial means. On a more personal note, we need
to accept that our health is intrinsically interconnected
with environmental and animal health. The World Health
Organisation’s (WHO) ‘One Health’ initiative, which focuses
on ensuring food safety, fighting antibiotic resistance and
zoonotic diseases, is testament to this.
Two of the focus areas of the WHO initiative, food security
and zoonotic diseases, are directly linked to the current
Covid-19 crisis. We can no longer live in our cocoons and
assume our health is not dependent on the ecosystem’s
wellbeing.
We are intimately
interconnected with nature
Surely the world we leave behind to our children and
grandchildren will experience new forms and variants of
pandemics. The emergence and severity of such pandemics
will depend on our efforts to preserve Nature.
Beyond the current human tragedies that we are witnessing,
we can console ourselves that Covid-19 has raised
awareness on the need to value Nature as we commemorate
World Environment Day this year. — @Forest
Kavickumar is a seasoned communications, EHS, sustainability,
ESG & regulatory risk management professional
with 10 years’ experience in corporate and NGO sectors
across Europe, Asia & Africa. He has a Masters’ Degree
(Environmental Management) from the National University
of Singapore & MBA from the Manchester Business School.
He was a nominee for the Straits Times Singaporean of the
Year, GreenBiz & World Business Council for Sustainable
Development “30 Under 30” emerging global leader enlistee
and an Enterprise Singapore Merit Awardee for contributions
to standards-setting in Singapore.
AERIAL VIEW: A huge crowd attended the car-free day along Ahmad Yani street in the heart
of Bekasi business district in Indonesia on July 12. The event, held every Sunday, is to fight
pollution