COVID-19 and its link with Biodiversity, Illegal Wildlife Trafficking, and Bioculturality

The emerging trend of the pandemic of COVID-19 has demonstrated the extreme
importance of combating biodiversity loss. Also, it has demonstrated that we disrupt the
framework that protects human life when we harm biodiversity. The more biodiverse an
ecosystem is the harder it is for a pathogen to spread or conquer rapidly. Biodiversity decline
creates an incentive for the passage of pathogens between animals and humans.

The COVID 19 virus has implications that apply to global biodiversity depletion crises,
and we need to learn and adapt quicker than ever. Our greatest vaccine for the future is to
preserve nature and biodiversity for this purpose. It is no longer just a question of ecology, but of
being mindful that we must have a balanced ecosystem if we want to reduce the incidence of
pandemics. Biodiversity loss also implies that we are going to lose much of the chemicals and
genes of nature, before discovery, of the kind that has already given enormous health benefits to
mankind. In health care, traditional medicine continues to play an important role, especially in
primary health care.

Current and future human health, well-being, and economic growth are largely driven by
biodiversity. But, at an alarming and accelerating pace, it is being depleted, with a quarter of all
plant and animal species now facing extinction. It is, therefore, important that countries
incorporate biodiversity aspects into their economic recovery plans and COVID-19 response. To
prevent the next pandemic, the conservation of biodiversity is crucial. In humans, almost
emerging infectious diseases come from other species. Changes in land use and exploitation of
biodiversity raise the risk of infectious diseases by getting humans and domestic animals close to
pathogen-carrying wildlife and destroying ecological processes that control diseases.
For food, clean water, flood prevention, erosion control, an inspiration for creativity, and
much more, the economy and human well-being also rely on biodiversity. About half of the
global domestic product in the world is moderately or extremely biodiversity-dependent.
Therefore the current loss in biodiversity poses significant threats to society. As part of the
COVID-19 policy response, investing in biodiversity will help reduce these risks, while
providing immediate employment and economic stimulus. Although the value of a "green
recovery" has been recognized by the government and business leaders, the attention has been
primarily on climate change. Nevertheless, the loss of biodiversity and climate change are threats
of equal significance and urgency and are largely intertwined. As part of a greater green and
inclusive recovery, they must be tackled together.

In their COVID-19 policy response, a range of countries has implemented biodiversity

initiatives. Examples of biodiversity initiatives include revisions to legislation on trade in wildlife
for the protection of human health and job programs focused on ecosystem regeneration,
sustainable management of forests, and prevention of invasive species. Unfortunately, many
countries, like the Philippines, have relaxed environmental protections or implemented stimulus
policies that threaten to drive more loss of biodiversity, despite some examples of good practice.
From what I have further research, the amount of potentially dangerous expenditure committed
as part of the economic recovery of some countries from the COVID-19 crisis is higher than the
volume of biodiversity-beneficial expenditure.

With these in mind, to incorporate biodiversity considerations into the COVID-19

recovery plans, governments should take the following measures and push the transformative
changes required to avoid and then restore the loss of biodiversity:
● Make sure the biodiversity is not affected by COVID-19 economic recovery initiatives by
1. Maintaining and improving land-use, wildlife trade, and emissions regulations
2. Attaching environmental conditionality to bailouts to accelerate improvements in
sustainability
3. Scanning and monitoring stimulus measures for their impacts on biodiversity
● Investment in conservation, sustainable use, and restoration of biodiversity should grow
exponentially by
1. Establishing goals for biodiversity spending on COVID-19 stimulus initiatives and
recovery plans
 2. Promoting jobs in conservation, sustainable use, and restoration of biodiversity
3. Engaging corporations and the financial sector for a positive biodiversity recovery
● Put a value on the loss of biodiversity by
1. Reforming biodiversity-damaging incentives
2. Significantly increasing biodiversity economic rewards
● Promoting cross-sectoral, regional, and global cooperation
1. Adopt and reinforce the One Health Approach
2. Support developing countries to protect their biodiversity
3. Create, adapt, and introduce an ambitious global plan for biodiversity after 2020.

Consequently, we can indeed gradually attain the 2020 motto of the International Day for
Biological Diversity, which is Our solutions are in nature. It emphasizes optimism, unity, and
the importance of working together at all levels to create a life-giving future in harmony with
nature.

The importance of biodiversity

The video discusses how the diversity of animal and plant life is necessary for healthy
ecosystems and the safety of human beings from climate change, provision of food and
medicine. But still, the loss of biodiversity and natural habitats is accelerating due to human
activity. A bleak warning about climate change is that when combating mother nature, we are
likely to struggle. For farmers, the harm is particularly detrimental. Permanent damage causes the
worst flooding in a lifetime. There are about a million species at risk of becoming extinct.

Biodiversity is all about abundance and variation in life. It has to do with animal life,
plant life, bacteria, where we find these various species, what kind of ecosystems they are
thriving in. We depend on biodiversity to maintain stable, robust high-functioning ecosystems.
As people, we will be in great danger if we were to continue to lose biodiversity at the rate at
which it currently occurs. And because of us, it is. It is the things that we do to the lands and
waters that are threatened by these species. That is a big problem for us since these species can
play important roles in the ecosystems in which they live. They could be pollinators. They can be
beings who help deliver the food we eat and the shelter we live in. And at the same time, the
outlets that will help us lead healthier lives could be new medicines and discoveries.

Historically, the destruction of natural ecosystems to make way for agriculture, the
general exploitation of wildlife, and the spread of non-native or invasive species have been the
main threats to biodiversity. And we're quick to see climate change as an important challenge to
biodiversity.

The speaker in the video also understood, along with me, other audiences, and all human
beings, that safe and balanced environments can be part of the solution to climate change and
even this Covid 19 Pandemic. So, forests and mangroves are complex ecosystems, but when they
are safe, they can store a lot of carbon. And that will help to mitigate climate change's impacts.
Some educators and students focus on a single issue: how do we make room for biodiversity in
the increasingly crowded, humid, and the hungry world?

Therefore we have to have more protected areas and parks, as stated in the video. We
need the adoption of more sustainable agricultural practices and the maintenance of our fisheries
so that they are not overharvested. And of course, we must discuss and resolve the problem of
climate change.

Outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases, including wildlife and zoonotic diseases, are
occurring with growing frequency and consequences. These have potentially long-lasting impacts
on human and wildlife species, with direct and indirect impacts on habitats that are unavoidable.
There are several fundamental factors for the intensifying emergence of infectious diseases, all
motivated by the increasing anthropogenic effect on nature. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis,
we must act decisively to fundamentally change how we collectively treat the world as a whole.
Bibliography

COVID-19 and its link with Biodiversity, Illegal Wildlife Trafficking, and Bioculturality.
(2020, May 19). Retrieved November 13, 2020, from
https://en.unesco.org/events/covid-19-and-its-link-biodiversity-illegal-wildlife-trafficking-and-bio
culturality

One Health Approach. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2020, from

https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/one-health

Princeton University. (2019, 29 Oct). The importance of biodiversity. [Video].

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C15NXPb67QE&feature=emb_title