COVID-19 pandemic prompts a new look at ecological security

Abstract

Resilient and healthy ecosystems help prevent wildfires, flooding, and other natural disasters. As the COVID-19 crisis illustrates, the unsafe exploitation of the natural environment can also have a lasting impact on population health and economic growth. Today, we need a reassessment of how societies prioritize the preservation of healthy ecosystems to support human health and wellbeing. This concept, often called "Planetary Health" or the "One Health" framework, views biodiversity management, land-use practices, and food production systems as dynamic interconnections among the plants, animals, and people that make up an ecosystem.