Pandemics and land clearing

It is becoming apparent that human impacts on the natural environment are the cause of an increasing number of infectious diseases.

Large scale land clearing of natural ecosystems upsets the biodiversity, giving rise to the spread of diseases in the animal populations. Every now and then, one of these diseases jumps to humans (zoonosis).

Ebola originated in bat and primate populations (LINK -Centres for Disease Control and Prevention). SARS came from an unknown animal source through Civets, a species of wild cat. Hendra Virus started in Bat colonies. There are many more examples and now it is suspected that Covid-19 originated in the bush food, Pangolin.

Bat - Bombala Times, Pangolin and Civet - Wikipedia

These diseases, once in the human populations, are facilitated in their spread by poor hygiene practices, dense living conditions, etc. The ability nowadays for large numbers of people to rapidly travel around the world has meant that Covid-19 has become a global pandemic.

Although the figures are a bit rubbery, the world mortality rate for Covid-19 is currently around 5-6% (LINK – WHO Situation Report). The WHO states that the average death rate for the Ebola virus is a staggering 50%. The WHO also note that in Guinea where Ebola emerged, about 80% of the forested region had been cleared for farming and mining.

In 2015, an article in The Lancet by 22 researchers concluded that “Health effects from changes to the environment including climatic change, ocean acidification, land degradation, water scarcity, over-exploitation of fisheries, and biodiversity loss pose serious challenges to the global health gains of the past several decades and are likely to become increasingly dominant during the second half of this century and beyond.” (LINK – The Lancet)

Healthy Mountain Ash forest, Noojee.

And we needn’t be smug enough to suggest that it wouldn’t happen in Australia!

In 2018, Australia was listed as one of the top 5 worst nations for deforestation – alongside New Guinea, Indonesia, Congo and Brazil (LINK – ABC HACK). In the six years to 2016, land clearing in Queensland increased over 300%.

Clearfelling Rubicon Victoria - Wilderness Society

Research shows that human impacts on the natural environment are the source of more frequent infectious diseases around the world. Whilst we pay attention, (to a small degree it has to be said), to the effects of deforestation on climate change, pollution and extreme weather events, it is now becoming obvious that the spread of disease can be added to the list!

Oops...

... sorry about the links not working in the last post on birdsong. I wasn't paying attention. Try these...

Kookaburra
Rainbow Lorikeet
Grey Butcherbird
Willie Wagtail
Golden Whistler
Grey Shrike-thrush
Spotted Pardalote
Magpie

And here's the mouth organ magpies on You Tube link again.

Birdsong is good for you

Winter, pandemic, no footy, social distancing, self-isolation, no toilet paper, kids home all day, working from home ….

Spending time connecting with the natural world is the ideal antidote to the stresses of modern life, particularly in these trying times. The restorative benefits of listening to birds has been well documented (BBC News Magazine) – birdsong is good for you!

(Click on the links to hear the birds laugh, screech, whistle and sing)

Birds sing for many reasons and most species have several different calls. The Kookaburra’s familiar ‘laugh’ is apparently a declaration of territory. They often call from the same trees on the border of their favourite patch of bush or parkland.

Excitable Rainbow Lorikeets will screech as they fly on to their next source of flowering trees or shrubs in a search for their diet of nectar. To wake each morning to the sonorous song of a Grey Butcherbird can set your mood for the rest of the day and Willie Wagtails will often begin calling before dawn.

Our busy, noisy urban lifestyle often means that the sounds of nature are missing but if we take a moment or two throughout the day it often isn’t hard to hear a bird. Try taking your daily walk sans earplugs and you will hear natural sounds that are capable of transporting you to a different, more relaxing world.

Our birds are threatened by climate change, urban development, pollution, habitat loss, pesticides and other human-related factors. To make the connection between our own future on this planet and the future of birds and other animals, has never been so important.

“You’ve had a good day in the bush when you hear a Golden Whistler” – Duncan Fraser. The plain-looking Grey Shrike-thrush has one of the most pleasant and evocative calls of the Australian bush. To hear a Spotted Pardalote calling from the canopy and to wonder at its visual beauty is a delight so easy to achieve in the streets and parks of our town. Can anyone deny that a carolling Magpie is deserving of so much celebration in literature and music? (And, just for fun, here’s a link to a You Tube video of Magpies singing to a mouth organ)

Birdsong is not only uplifting it is also an alarm call from nature that needs heeding.