To prevent pandemics, stop disrespecting nature

A leading conservationist and biodiversity scholar, with decades of experience in the Amazon, reflects on the lessons of COVID-19.

Like much of the world I am sheltering in place because of COVID-19. It’s not the first pandemic of my lifetime: I experienced pre-vaccine polio epidemics, when parents would talk about the scary disease in front of children by spelling it aloud, thinking they wouldn’t understand. Many of these adults had lived through the influenza pandemic in 1918. And in recent years we have all followed the news nervously as Ebola, SARS, and MERS have surfaced in human populations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Except for polio, which is transmitted only from human to human, most of those disease agents were part of natural cycles that involved only animals. They spilled over into humans because nature was

DON'T MISS THE REST OF THIS STORY!
Create a free account to continue and get unlimited access to hundreds of Nat Geo articles, plus newsletters.

Create your free account to continue reading

No credit card required. Unlimited access to free content.
Or get a Premium Subscription to access the best of Nat Geo - just $19
SUBSCRIBE

Read This Next

Is banning fishing bad for fishermen? Not in this marine reserve
SeaWorld violated the Animal Welfare Act. Why is it still open?
'World’s worst shipwreck' was bloodier than we thought

Go Further

Subscriber Exclusive Content

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet