At the core, all 3 are about our destructive relationship with nature. Hope for solving them is the same, too: we must halt environmental degradation. (1/8)
Today, a new @TheWCS report shows the more we modify nature, the more likely we are to cause zoonotic spillovers.
Activities like land conversion & wildlife trade & consumption in areas of high biodiversity increase contact rates w/wildlife & raise risk. bit.ly/2ZAniCS
In fact, preserving intact forests is one of most powerful & cost-effective solutions we have to combat all 3 threats. (3/8)
This is also an example of a nature-based solution. Together, nature-based solutions can provide up to 30% of the action needed by 2030 to keep global temperature rise below 2°C—a key target in #climatecrisis (4/8)
Late last year, @TheWCS co-authored a study in Science Advances showing loss of intact tropical forests has been grossly underreported, though.
Carbon impacts are 6xs higher than we thought due to the loss of these forests between 2000 and 2013. bit.ly/3e0OLli (5/8)
Our goal is to end intact forest loss by 2030.🌳🌳
We are tackling this challenge from a strong foundation. @TheWCS works in 9/10 countries with the greatest geographic coverage of intact forests. bit.ly/3cV0jX3 (6/8)
COMMENTARY: If we are to minimize species loss and collapse in ecosystem function, we must do all we can to support Indigenous Peoples’ rights & their efforts to protect their lands & waters, write WCS’s David Wilkie, @sslieberman, & @cyclonewatson. 1/10
Why? Decisions Indigenous Peoples have made over generations have done more to protect species and ecological systems than all the protected areas established and managed by individual countries combined. bit.ly/2SbAIAq
Even 135 yrs after Louis Pasteur successfully vaccinated against rabies, this preventable but deadly viral disease remains one of most neglected in developing world.
Its greatest burden falls on poor rural communities and especially on children in Africa & Asia. #WorldRabiesDay
Since rabid domestic dogs are the cause of 99% of global deaths from rabies in humans, dog vaccination, coupled with education and control of feral dog populations, is the key to fighting this devastating disease. 2/
Since rabies also severely affects endangered wildlife species such as the Ethiopian wolf and African wild dogs, vaccination of domestic dogs at the landscape level by veterinarians also contributes to the conservation of these unique animal species. 3/
Majority of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic—they jump from wildlife to people. Key to addressing this: our interactions, exploitation, and destruction of nature.
NOW: Christian Walzer of @WcsHealth will be speaking at #NatureForLife Hub. Watch live on our Facebook.
At WCS, our policy recommends stopping all commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption (particularly of birds and mammals) and closing all such markets.
Also: we have to acknowledge that outbreaks are inevitable as the interfaces between wildlife and humans increase, primarily due to deforestation and agricultural expansion, as WCS's Christian Walzer wrote in @FrontiersIn yesterday. doi.org/10.3389/fvets.…#NatureForLife
Nature-based solutions can provide up to 30% percent of the action needed by 2030 to keep global temperature rise below 2°C. #NatureForLife#ClimateChange
Intact forests are estimated to absorb 1/4 of total global carbon pollution annually, but we're losing them far too rapidly. #NatureForLife