Why The Pandemic is Telling Us That Our Relationship with Nature is Broken

Jul 16, 2020  13:00 - 14:00

(GMT -5:00) Eastern Time

Event URL:  https://sustainabilitynetwork.ca/justina-ray-of-wcs-canada/
Cost:  $10
Hosted by: Wildlife Conservation Society Canada

Justina Ray of Wildlife Conservation Society Canada on Why The Pandemic is Telling Us That Our Relationship with Nature is Broken 

A recording of the webinar will be provided to registrants.

As COVID 19 has swept across the planet, a great deal of attention has been focused on human health and socio-economic fallout. Much less attention has been given to the root causes of the spillover event that led to this virus spreading to human communities. But with the interface between human communities and wild places constantly expanding, we need to pay much more attention to rethinking our relationship with wild places and their inhabitants. In this talk, Justina will summarize the latest scientific findings on how this particular pandemic was sparked, the links between declines in biodiversity and loss of intact ecosystems round the world and the rise of viral spillover events, along with policy implications. Although the origins of this pandemic are far away from Canada, much of what has been learned is applicable here. In a country with some of the most extensive intact wild areas in the world, we are still seeing the spread of diseases, like Lyme disease, that are directly linked to the disruption of wild systems.