With the impact of health challenges such as dreaded COVID 19 currently being felt around the world and challenging science and research, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) has warned Africa and other countries with wildlife endowments to stop disrupting with nature by legislating against encroachment especially to prevent zoonotic diseases.
According to a report published by guardian.ng, World Health Organisation says globally, zoonoses cause about one billion cases of illness and millions of death occurs every year and some 60 per cent of emerging infectious diseases that are reported globally are zoonoses with 30 new human pathogens being detected in the last three decades.
Rose Mwebaza, Director, UNFCCC Climate Technology Center and Network (CTCN),in a chat with International Support Network for African Development (ISNAD-Africa) to campaign on New Deal for Nature under the sponsorship of the Africa arm of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), stated that depletion of the ecosystem and forests have continued with steady erosion of wildlife spaces continued erosion of wild spaces.
According to her, the World Bank projected over 5.2 per cent contraction in global GDP in 2020 and over 7,762,928 cases 428,723 death from coronavirus alone, and therefore “We need to reclaim our forests, stop deforestation and invest in managing protected areas and our land better.
“Encroachment by croplands onto wildlife habitats is a major factor in bringing people into dangerous conflict with wildlife. Wildlife must be seen as a competitive land-use option that allows us to keep “wild” spaces, “wild”. Mwebaz added.
She further lamented that logging, timber export, subsistence agriculture and collection of wood for cooking, which have become increasingly persistent is a threat to the ecosystem.
Reports say, the warming by UN is coming when Nigeria has reportedly lost 55.7 per cent as the equivalent of 11,089,000 hectares (27,400,000 acres) had been forested in Nigeria.
Mwebaza further stated that zoonotic diseases like COVID19 represent the huge impact of zoonoses on human health while emphasising that it was important to keep the ecosystems healthy and sustainable to protect humans and nature.
She further stated that” achieving ambitious agreements at UNFCCC COP26, the CBD COP15 and adoption of a post-2020 chemicals and waste management framework matter more than ever because the better the continent manages the health of ecosystems, the better human health.
“Healthy, functioning ecosystems are central to a post-COVID world and we must continue to push for progress on strengthening policy frameworks vital to making this happen.” she added.
Mwebazq also spoke on the post-COVI-19 recovery plan, especially how policymakers could leverage nature conservation and biodiversity in reducing future emergencies of zoonotic diseases by stressing that the need to monitor risks of reduced or weakened enforcement of environmental laws as part of COVID-19 response to buck the emerging trend of countries relaxing environmental laws during the pandemic.
According to her, environmental law is critical to safeguarding health.
In his separate remarks on the WWF funded campaign, Executive Director | International Support Network for African Development, Adedoyin Adeleke said “the programme aimed to study, analyze and communicate the various interlinkages between COVID-19, nature conservation and biodiversity.
“The initiative seeks to raise a campaign on the need for humanity to rethink, reset and recalibrate our interactions with nature; the central focus of the post-2020 nature conservation and biodiversity framework, the “New Deal for Nature and People,” he stated.
This advice is a reminder of the benefits of conserving the ecosystem not just for prevention but for tourism benefits and site seeing which are alternative revenues to government revenue and job creation.
By Francis Ogwo
SOURCE : guardian.ng
