Ask any wildlife scientist or conservationist about COVID-19, and they are likely to say, “I told you so.” Humans tinkering with nature—be in the form of forest fragmentation, consumption of wild meat, widespread and rampant trade in animal parts for purported medicinal value, or keeping animals as pets—has increased the ease with which zoonotic diseases jump the species barrier. Put simply, it has made it easier for viruses residing in animals to enter the human race.
COVID-19 is one among several zoonotic diseases. Others include rabies, Ebola, HIV, SARS, Nipah, and Kyasanur forest disease (a monkey disease from Karnataka), to name a few. In fact, it is estimated that 60-75 percent of all viruses emerge from wildlife, and are a result of human activities—exploiting nature and creating a patchwork of habitats, thereby leading to increased contact among various life forms.
It is time we stop blaming bats, pangolins, civets, and other animals, and recognise the role that humans have played in creating and spreading these diseases.
A fundamental flaw in both our conservation efforts and public health interventions has been that we treat them as separate from each other. We fail to recognise that having intact ecosystems (forests, grasslands, wetlands) is vital to maintain the health of our planet, which, in turn, is vital to keep viruses from crossing the species barrier. Decades of expansion of infrastructure and agriculture have disrupted natural ecosystems and opened up multiple ways to put human health in danger. The ongoing pandemic is the best example.
The wilderness that still remains in India is made up of a highly disjointed network of protected areas and unprotected habitats, interspersed with densely populated human settlements and domestic animals. Millions of people live inside or around remote forested areas and wildlife reserves, ekeing out their livelihoods from marginal subsistence farming, collection of forest products, grazing, and hunting. Their close proximity to a variety of animal species creates the potential for existing and yet to be discovered diseases to spread to them and outwards through agriculture, animal husbandry, and travel.
These communities are among India’s poorest, often marginalised, with little or no access to basic healthcare, education, or information to safeguard the health of their community and livestock. In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, with limited access to news, hindered market access and transportation, and regular governmental services running under-capacity, the challenges faced by these remote rural communities have worsened.
As communities living in and around forests suffer loss of income, they will likely be forced to fall back on the forests for survival, leading to increased clearing of forest land, incidents of poaching, and consumption of wild meat, thereby creating a dangerous downward spiral.
Is integral, both during this pandemic, and after, that we make concerted efforts to address the needs of communities.
That is why it is integral, both during this pandemic, and after, that we make concerted efforts to address the needs of these communities. We need ground level efforts involving local community leaders, deep-rooted nonprofits, and key government departments to establish a higher standard of public health and safety. We also need to build partnerships among nonprofits from different sectors—health, environment, and livelihoods, to ensure that our efforts are integrated and holistic in nature.
Apart from re-framing the narrative and supporting these marginalised communities, here are some steps that need to be taken by both, the government and civil society, to address the problem we have at hand.
We require long-term investments that restructure planning, policy-making, and regulation in both public health and conservation. Additionally, we need to look at our Sustainable Development Goals around health and well-being, poverty, and the environment, and find ways in which they can be unified through interdisciplinary programmes.
COVID-19 has given us a chance to understand how our well-being is connected to that of other living creatures. It’s time we recognise it and put our efforts behind creating a more integrated approach to health.
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