How protecting forests and their communities can prevent the next outbreak
Clear-cutting forests may provide short-term monetary gains, but the true costs of mass deforestation could be steep.
The novel coronavirus that has caused the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is believed to be zoonotic, meaning it first spread from animals to humans. Not only is that a common route of transmission, but researchers and environmentalists are now cautioning that the constant push of humanity into formerly wild areas could accelerate the process of new disease introduction.
But one potential way suggested to ease this is already being field-tested in Southeast Asia. Community forestry is a method of local, communal management of natural resources by the people who already live with and depend on them and, if its advocates are proven right, it could dramatically change how people value nature.
CAROLYN COWAN
