Biodiversity – the hidden risks

Abstract

Biodiversity is much more than what we see. Biodiversity also includes a number of microorganisms, suc h as bacteria, fungi and viruses, many of which cause disease in animals, plants and man. In the Amazon, many of these organisms live in the body of repository animals that are in the forest and can jump to humans, with the potential to cause new epidemics and pandemics. In the region, we cannot discard plants as repositories for these microorganisms too. It is necessary to reduce deforestation, mining, cattle ranching at the heart of the forest and strive for "One Health" approach, improving social organization, including policies, legislation and science.

Students’ Interests in Biodiversity: Links with Health and Sustainability

“…This approach is even more relevant when considering that biodiversity conservation is essential to avoid new pandemics and other risks to human health [2]. Indeed, reducing environmental impacts, such as deforestation, cattle raising, and mining, among others, is essential to mitigate impacts on ecosystems that provide contact between wild species with humans, facilitating the migration of pathogenic microorganisms to humans, causing diseases [10]. Thus, the educational work on biodiversity from the perspective of "comprehensive health" (One Health) [34] can be a way to engage students, being a starting point to increase their interest in local biodiversity.…”

“…Thus, wild animals and plants in natural environments are repositories of microorganisms that can infect humans, potentially causing new epidemics or pandemics. Therefore, the reduction of impacts generated by deforestation, mining, and cattle raising, among other human activities, is seen as a relevant measure to avoid the risk of emergence of new zoonoses, as such activities put humans in close contact with wild species, with which humans have had rare or non-existent interactions with until recently [10].…”

Twenty Years of the National Protected Areas System: are Brazilian National Parks achieving their legal objectives?

“…Unfortunately, due to the increasing amount of deforested areas, mining, cattle ranchs and other negative impacts on nature conservation, which also endanger human health, exposing it to new epidemics (Val 2020), the importance of NPs is increasing, turning them into "conservation islands". Therefore, 20 years after the creation of the SNUC, the question that guides our study is how are the Brazilian NPs doing regarding their legal objectives?…”

Amazon biodiversity – quo vadis?

“…Another aspect that has become pressing due to the virus SARS-CoV-2 is related to the risks that deforestation in areas such as the Amazon can pose to humanity. As has been pointed out several times, the biodiversity of this region contains a plethora of microorganisms, including (but not limited to) viruses, which are present in repository animals and could infect people leading to epidemics or even pandemics (e.g., Val 2020) (2021) 93(2) e2021932 2 | 3 Pereira et al 2017), the latter considered to have played a major role in the current pandemic (e.g., Lu et al 2021). Not to mention the diversity of Amazonian insects, which act as an important of viruses (e.g., Olmo et al 2019), most still unknown.…”