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Ecological countermeasures for preventing zoonotic disease outbreaks: when ecological restoration is a human health imperative
Author(s) -
Reaser Jamie K.,
Witt Arne,
Tabor Gary M.,
Hudson Peter J.,
Plowright Raina K.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
restoration ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.214
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1526-100X
pISSN - 1061-2971
DOI - 10.1111/rec.13357
Subject(s) - restoration ecology , environmental planning , ecological health , environmental resource management , ecosystem health , ecology , nexus (standard) , ecosystem services , public health , geography , ecosystem , medicine , biology , environmental science , nursing , computer science , embedded system
Ecological restoration should be regarded as a public health service. Unfortunately, the lack of quantitative linkages between environmental and human health has limited recognition of this principle. The advent of the COVID‐19 pandemic provides the impetus for further discussion. We propose ecological countermeasures as highly targeted, landscape‐based interventions to arrest the drivers of land use‐induced zoonotic spillover. We provide examples of ecological restoration activities that reduce zoonotic disease risk and a five‐point action plan at the human‐ecosystem health nexus. In conclusion, we make the case that ecological countermeasures are a tenet of restoration ecology with human health goals.