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Biodiversity Conservation and Human Health
World Deforestation Estimate
Increasing Deforestation
Emergent
Infectious Disease
Malaria
Nipah virus
SARS
Cholera
Ebola/Marburg
Arboviruses and
Leischmaniasis
Malaria parasite matures
more rapidly with climate
change
How does loss of wildlife habitat
contribute to this human disease?*
Deforestation and irrigation projects increase
mosquito breeding sites, eliminate larval predators like
dragonflies, and increase in-migration of farmers,
miners and loggers who carry parasites among
human populations.
Oil palm expansion leads to deforestation and loss of
bat habitat. This forces bats into contact with pig farms
and enables the virus to evolve and become infectious
for humans.
Trade in wild mammals and poultry in Asian “wet
markets” allows virus to jump to palm civets and
raccoon dogs which then infect humans.
Runoff of agricultural and urban effluents in coastal
areas supplies nutrients, causing proliferation of
micro-organisms including Vibrio spp.
Forest degradation is concentrating the still unknown
reservoir host of Ebola virus. The virus is passed to
humans from infected gorillas and chimps in
bushmeat trade
Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever, and Leischmaniasis
have all been associated with deforestation in the
periphery of urban areas in the tropics.
Does climate change Does conservation in the Biodiversity
amplify disease?
Hotspots and Wilderness Areas
promote human health with respect to
this emergent disease?
Yes, higher temperatures
provide broader ranges for
mosquitoes, and generate
faster reproduction of
parasites.
Yes, outbreak coincided
with large mid-90s El Nino
event.
Yes.
Yes, Amazon Basin, Guiana shield, Congo Basin,
East, West, and South Africa, Indo-Burma, New
Guinea. Avoiding deforestation in areas where
malaria is emergent can conserve biodiversity, while
mitigating and adapting to climate change.
Yes, Indonesia and Malaysia, and potentially IndoBurma and New Guinea. Reducing deforestation
and the interface between wild and domestic
animals can reduce risk of disease emergence
Yes, Controlling wildlife trade in Asia contributes to
wildlife conservation and human health.
Yes, warmer coastal waters
from El Nino events have
been linked to cholera
outbreaks.
Unknown, Suspected.
Yes, Conservation of fish and coral in high
biodiversity seascapes (i.e., Coral triangle, Eastern
Coastal Pacific) buffers disease emergence and will
require control of effluents.
Yes, protected areas and control of bushmeat trade
for great apes will diminish disease impact on both
human and non-human primates.
Unknown, Suspected.
Yes, Landscape management and avoided
deforestation for biodiversity conservation can
reduce degradation of periurban areas in the tropics.
Data and synthesis from Patz J.A., U. Confalonieri, et. al. 2005a. Human Health: Ecosystem Regulation of Infectious Diseases. A report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.