If nature destruction continues,  Covid-19 may be only the beginning :                         

            The coronavirus pandemic is likely to be followed by even more deadly and destructive disease outbreaks unless their root cause – the rampant destruction of the natural world – is rapidly halted

Rampant deforestation, uncontrolled expansion of agriculture, intensive farming, mining and infrastructure development, as well as the exploitation of wild species have created a ‘perfect storm’ for the spillover of diseases.” Halt destruction of nature or suffer even worse pandemics says IPBES report.

Professors Josef Settele, Sandra Díaz and Eduardo Brondizio led the most comprehensive planetary health check , which was published in 2019 by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

“There is a single species responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic – us,” they said. “Recent pandemics are a direct consequence of human activity, particularly our global financial and economic systems that prize economic growth at any cost. We have a small window of opportunity  in overcoming the challenges of the current crisis, to avoid sowing the pandemic seeds to future ones.” We have to protect  the nature.  It is an inevitable factor.

Human society was in jeopardy from the accelerating decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems.

These activities cause pandemics by bringing more people into contact and conflict with animals,   

from which 70% of emerging human diseases originate, they said. Combined with urbanisation and the explosive growth of global air travel, this enabled a harmless virus in Asian bats to bring “untold human suffering and halt economies and societies around the world.” This is the human hand in pandemic emergence.                        

“Future pandemics are likely to happen more frequently, spread more rapidly, have greater economic impact and kill more people if we are not extremely careful about the possible impacts of the choices we make today,” the scientists said.

They said,  multitrillion-dollar economic recovery packages being rolled out by governments must be used to strengthen and enforce environmental protection.

A global “One Health” approach must also be expanded, “The health of people is intimately connected to the health of wildlife, the health of livestock and the health of the environment. It’s actually one health,” said Scientist Daszak.

 Furthermore, surveillance programs and health services need to be    properly funded in nations on the frontlines of pandemic risk,: “This is not simple altruism – it is vital investment in the interests of all to prevent future global outbreaks.”

 “The programs we’re talking about will cost tens of billions of dollars a year. But if you get one pandemic, even just one a century, that costs trillions, so you still come out with an incredibly good return on investment.

“Business as usual will not work. Business as usual right now for pandemics is waiting for them to emerge and hoping for a vaccine. That’s not a good strategy. We need to deal with the underlying drivers.”

 “We can emerge from the current crisis stronger and more resilient than ever, by choosing actions that protect nature, so that nature can help to protect us.”