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2023

How Covid 19 and deforestation are linked

1/4/2021

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Deforestation and the Covid-19 pandemic are much closer linked than people might  think. In fact, it is the reason why the pandemic exists. Deforestation is one of the biggest  threats to people and nature. Every year a shocking amount of more than 15 billion trees  are cut down, killing earth’s biggest source of oxygen and destroying the home of  thousands of species. 

There are two different types of infectious diseases caused by deforestation. The first type  are vector-borne diseases. These diseases are carried by blood-feeding animals such as  mosquitos or ticks. Because of deforestation, new areas get cleared. Destroying these  areas causes the accumulation of water. This leaves more room for mosquitos to breed in  huge amounts. Humans start living in the cleared areas, closer to a large number of  Mosquitos and therefore the chances of getting stung by a disease-carrying Mosquito are  really high. 

The second type of infectious diseases caused by deforestation are zoonotic diseases,  where a virus jumps from an animal directly to a human. By living in cleared areas,  humans come closer to animals that they normally wouldn’t encounter. This is the way  how Covid 19 infected humans. The virus wants to spread as much as possible, which is  why they always search for new organisms. The virus can exploit the lack of defenses in  the new organism, which is why people get sick when they catch a virus. 

Zoonotic outbreaks have been increasing more and more in the last few years. The  reason is deforestation. Not only do people come closer to animals that will spread new  diseases, but they also destroy the habitat of many species, due to deforestation.  Destroying the habitat of many species also means that the biodiversity in these areas is  getting smaller. The result of a smaller biodiversity is more animals from one species, that  possibly spread new diseases.  

Clearing the forests means setting a fire. The resulting airborne particles are the leading  cause of premature deaths in humans as a result of air pollution in the tropics. Forest fires  increase lung problems among local people, and in the midst of the Covid 19 crisis, this  risks overwhelming the already fragile health systems in these zones. This can also  increase the risk of spreading the virus. 
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To protect the environment and to prevent more outbreaks such as Covid 19, it is  important to protect rural and indigenous communities, which are the most exposed to  the risks and the most vulnerable to infectious diseases, due to their limited access to  health services. It is also important to make stopping deforestation a priority in tropical  zones. Everyone can do something to stop deforestation such as buying specific certified  wood products, going paperless whenever possible, limiting the consumption of products  that use palm oil, and planting a tree when possible.

Melissa Mussa

Melissa Mussa is a German volunteer in Praxis organisation, in charge of the World Forest Day campaign.

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