To prevent pandemics, new plan must invest in nature: 3 stories you may have missed

• News & Highlights

1. The huge hole in Biden's pandemic prevention plan

Protecting nature is key to preventing future pandemics.

The story: The Biden Administration recently proposed a US$ 30 billion strategy to protect Americans from future pandemics as part of his “American Jobs Plan” — with investments in medicine, biosecurity and virus research. Notably missing from this proposal, writes Brett Hartl in an op-ed for The Hill, is a plan to prevent emerging disease outbreaks at their source: nature.

“Zoonotic diseases from wildlife will emerge at a growing rate as the destruction of the world’s last natural habitats continues to accelerate,” Hartl writes. “If Biden sincerely wants to demonstrate that his administration is concerned about stopping the next pandemic before it occurs, then his budget must also invest in taking a bold, precautionary action to address the degradation of nature.”

But what exactly will it take to “address the degradation of nature”? (Hint: keep reading)

The big picture: “In July of last year, a group of leading conservation scientists” — including four Conservation International experts — “concluded that for just US$ 22 billion to US$ 31 billion per year the world could curtail the destruction of the natural world and reckless exploitation of wildlife — the likely root cause of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hartl writes.