Editing Pandemic (section)

=== Encroaching into wildlands ===
{{Further|Zoonosis#Biodiversity loss and environmental degradation|Human–wildlife conflict|Wildland–urban interface|Urban sprawl}}

The October 2020 'era of pandemics' report by the [[United Nations]]' [[Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]], written by 22 experts in a variety of fields, said the anthropogenic destruction of [[biodiversity]] is paving the way to the pandemic era and could result in as many as 850,000 viruses being transmitted from animals—in particular [[birds]] and [[mammals]]—to humans. The [[Overconsumption|"exponential rise" in consumption]] and trade of commodities such as [[meat]], [[palm oil]], and metals, largely facilitated by developed nations, and a [[Population growth|growing human population]], are the primary drivers of this destruction. According to [[Peter Daszak]], the chair of the group who produced the report, "there is no great mystery about the cause of the Covid-19 pandemic or any modern pandemic. The same human activities that drive [[climate change and biodiversity loss]] also drive pandemic risk through their impacts on our environment." Proposed policy options from the report include taxing meat production and consumption, cracking down on the illegal wildlife trade, removing high-risk species from the legal wildlife trade, eliminating subsidies to businesses that are harmful to the natural world, and establishing a global surveillance network.<ref>{{cite news |date=29 October 2020 |title=UN report says up to 850,000 animal viruses could be caught by humans, unless we protect nature |work=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |url=https://theconversation.com/un-report-says-up-to-850-000-animal-viruses-could-be-caught-by-humans-unless-we-protect-nature-148911 |access-date=1 December 2020 |vauthors=Woolaston K, Fisher JL}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=29 October 2020 |title=Protecting nature is vital to escape 'era of pandemics' – report |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/29/protecting-nature-vital-pandemics-report-outbreaks-wild |access-date=1 December 2020 |vauthors=Carrington D}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=29 October 2020 |title=Escaping the 'Era of Pandemics': experts warn worse crises to come; offer options to reduce risk |work=EurekAlert! |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-10/tca-et102820.php |access-date=1 December 2020}}</ref>

In June 2021, a team of scientists assembled by the [[Harvard Medical School Center for Health and the Global Environment]] warned that the primary cause of pandemics so far, the anthropogenic destruction of the natural world through such activities including [[deforestation]] and [[hunting]], is being ignored by world leaders.<ref>{{cite news |date=4 June 2021 |title=World leaders 'ignoring' role of the destruction of nature in causing pandemics |work=The Guardian |location= |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/04/end-destruction-of-nature-to-stop-future-pandemics-say-scientists |access-date=4 June 2021 |vauthors=Carrington D}}</ref>