Improving our relationships with nature is crucial in the post pandemic period, argues a renowned primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall.
Mishandling the natural world would result in a doom, she said, adding that humanity will be "finished" after coronavirus if we don't improve our relationship with the natural world, Goodall warned on Wednesday, during a webinar about pandemics, wildlife, and intensive animal farming.
The 86-year-old UN peace messenger complained that COVID-19 outbreak was the result of overuse of the natural world.
Turning Point
We are at a turning point in our relationship with the natural world, said Goodall as the main lesson learnt from coronavirus crisis is to change our ways. "Scientists warn that to avoid future crises, we must drastically change our diets and move to plant-rich foods for the sake of the animals, planet, and the health of our children," she added.
The over exploitation of the nature would create a reservoir of animal diseases that ultimately hurts human society, said the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute in Virginia's Vienna, famed for her research on wild chimpanzees at Gombe National Park, Tanzania.
This comes at a time when the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, which has taken more than 388,250 lives globally, while infecting more than 6,586,000 worldwide.
We brought this on ourselves
Due to our absolute disrespect for the environment and animals, "We have brought this on ourselves," she said and urged people to stop factory farming and destroying natural habitats, treating it as an urgent matter, because of disease threat and of climate change. Factory farming is also linked to the rise of antibiotic resistant superbugs threatening human health.
"Our disrespect for wild animals and our disrespect for farmed animals has created this situation where disease can spill over to infect human beings," said Jane Goodall, who is well known to inspire people of all ages to help animals and other people.
