What's COVID got to do with conservation?
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Even before the COVID-19 pandemic turned our world upside down, the Salazar Center had built its mission and values around something that many scientists and policymakers are now calling for to safeguard humanity from the next would-be pandemic: protecting and restoring healthy, intact natural systems. While there have been calls to ban so-called “wet” markets and illegal wildlife trade, it’s bigger than that. Over the past several weeks, articles have proliferated about the connections between human health and the natural world, as well as the link between public health issues and climate change. We’ve highlighted a few themes below.
Humans are increasingly encroaching on and fragmenting our planet’s ecosystems and landscapes—building roads and subdivisions, extracting resources such as timber and groundwater, and converting previously wild lands for agriculture. These activities have myriad effects. Disrupted ecosystems tend to lose their biggest predators first, leaving behind smaller species that reproduce in large numbers and have immune systems more capable of carrying diseases without succumbing to them. At the same time, by turning forests into farmland and erecting homes in the wildland-urban interface, we’re more likely to come into contact with the wildlife that remain in these areas—no wet market required. Almost half of the new diseases that jumped from animals to humans (zoonotic pathogens) after 1940 can be traced to changes in land use, agriculture, or wildlife interactions. And, not only are humans destroying natural habitats, we’re driving climate change, which in turn is reducing the amount of habitat available to any given species, shifting species’ natural ranges, or both, further increasing the chances that these animals will inadvertently cross paths with people. That’s not all. As temperatures warm and biodiversity decreases, ecosystems are knocked further off balance, and animals are mixing in new and unexpected ways, providing even more opportunities for diseases to spread. In short, human impacts not only make it more likely that an ecosystem is susceptible to harboring viruses like COVID-19, they also increase the chances that people will come into contact with the species carrying those diseases.
Changing human behavior on a scale effective enough to prevent another pandemic like COVID-19 is a tall order, but there is also much to build upon and be learned from the current crisis. Lee Hannah, a senior scientist at Conservation International, for example, points out that, “There’s going to be right places for disease control, and they may largely overlap the right places for biodiversity.” And, scientists from Stanford have also suggested that relatively small buffer zones, such as tree farms or reforestation projects, around biodiversity-rich areas could dramatically lessen the likelihood of human-wildlife interaction. What does this mean in practice? If we learn from this crisis and enact some of these measures, efforts to reduce the transmission of zoonotic viruses can do double duty in the fight against climate change: the same healthy biodiverse landscapes that need to be preserved are more resilient to the effects a warming planet, and new or restored buffer zones can also act as a carbon sink.
What is more, the response to the pandemic has made it clear that our society is capable of the rapid and dramatic action required to combat climate change. For example, aggressive steps to reduce planet-warming emissions (investing in solar and wind power, switching to electric cars, requiring more energy-efficient infrastructure) wouldn’t be nearly as disruptive to everyday life as the current stay-at-home orders and would have far-reaching impacts. And, addressing climate change may well necessitate an economic support response not dissimilar from current relief efforts—previously thought infeasible by some—such as providing for those whose jobs are most vulnerable (coal and oil workers, among others) and low-income communities who bear the brunt of pollution and climate-driven disasters like wildfires and floods. City and state policymakers are also demonstrating the power of local and regional leadership in a crisis, and such an approach can pave the way for increased climate change resilience and adaptation planning. The Global Commission on Adaptation estimates that investing just $1.8 trillion in building resilience against climate change over the next decade—by investing in green technology, resilient infrastructure, forest restoration, and renewable energy—could generate $7.1 trillion in total net benefits, and much of this work can get underway with the support of the same local leaders who are currently directing the COVID-19 response.
There is no doubt that responding to climate change will look different from the response to COVID-19 in many ways. Rather than socially isolating, the fight against climate change will require collaboration and coming together like never before. And the impacts of climate change are slower-building and, in many places around the world, will not affect as many individuals and communities as quickly, visibly, or dramatically as this pandemic has, so conservationists may have a harder time motivating and mobilizing the masses. Nonetheless, the current crisis has underscored that our society is indeed capable of responding to climate change quickly and at-scale; it has also highlighted the need to better prepare our communities and to create more equitable systems under a status quo with more frequent disasters.
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What we're reading
Interested in learning more about how we're framing the relationship between the pandemic, conservation, and climate change? Here are just a few of the pieces we've been reading lately:
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Meet our Connectivity Challenge judges!
We're pleased to report that, as of the April 16 deadline for Connectivity Challenge applications, we received nearly 50 proposals from teams with innovative approaches to landscape-scale conservation! Applicants represent 20 US states, four states in Mexico, two tribal coalitions, and Canada. Applications will now be reviewed by our expert panel of judges, who are drawn from leadership in philanthropy, academia, and the nonprofit and for-profit worlds. We're thrilled to have convened this prestigious group and hope you'll check out who they are and where they come from. Meet the judges! |
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Connecting for Conservation webinar series continues this spring
Have you joined us for any of our webinars yet? Recordings of all past sessions are available on our website for you to re-watch and share with colleagues and peers, and the next installment on May 14 will explore how to build community trust in support of conservation efforts - you can sign up here. We're also always grateful for feedback, as well as ideas for future topics and panelists, so please take a few minutes to take a brief survey about the series. |
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Advisory Board Spotlight: ANNE CASTLE
 Anne Castle is a senior fellow at the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment at the University of Colorado, where she focuses on western water policy issues. From 2009 to 2014, following 30 years of water law practice with the Rocky Mountain law firm of Holland & Hart, she was appointed Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the U.S. Department of the Interior. While at Interior, Anne spearheaded the Department’s WaterSMART program, which provides federal leadership on the path toward sustainable water supplies, and was the driving force behind the 2010 federal MOU addressing sustainable hydropower. Anne also provided hands-on leadership on Colorado River issues and was a champion of Minute 319 between the US and Mexico. We recently checked in the Anne (virtually, of course!) to learn more about why she supports the Salazar Center’s mission and how she views the future of conservation.
Of all the boards you could sit on and organizations to which you could lend your support and expertise, why the Salazar Center?
The Center is the only conservation organization that explicitly bridges the needs of human communities and the needs and contributions of ecological communities. The emphasis on connections—connections between landscapes, connections between public and private lands, and connections between people and environment—brings meaning to the work that needs to be done. And, the leadership and vision of Ken Salazar has been inspiring to me since first time I met him and has only grown and strengthened over the years.
You’ve been in the conservation world a long time. How does your work over the past few decades relate to our mission to advance the health and connectivity of natural systems and landscapes of North America and to bridge science, policy, and practice?
My work on water policy, both at the US Department of the Interior and now at the Getches-Wilkinson Center, has been pointed in the direction of sustainability. With the dire impacts of climate change on water supplies in the southwest US, visible today and predicted for the future, there is so much work to be done to bring these systems into balance. And we need to include new considerations in the traditional water supply discussions, by listening to the voices of the best available science, the voices of Native American tribes, and the voice of the environment itself.
We’re up against many “wicked” problems when it comes to the health and resilience of our continent. What do you think are the biggest conservation policy challenges we face in the next five years?
Climate change and its impact on water, landscapes, and wildlife is the greatest long-term challenge of our era. But in the shorter term, I think we will need to combat and reverse the idea that conservation and economic progress are mutually exclusive, an idea that's been perpetuated by recent federal leadership. It's clear that the unwise depletion of our natural resources and ignoring the connection between humans and the environment bring about poorer economic outcomes, but that concept hasn't penetrated, and we need to turn that around.
On a lighter note, if you could be any species of plant or animal, what would you be and why?
A hawk—flying high and effortlessly over the countryside, seeing the tiniest movement on the ground, migrating with the seasons, and generally looking majestic and free.
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UPDATE: 2020 Symposium
Given the uncertainties of the immediate future, the Center is exploring a variety of possible approaches to its second annual International Symposium on Conservation impact, from business-as-usual, to virtual options. Stay tuned for more on that soon, but please save the dates for the symposium regardless: September 16-17, 2020!
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Thank you to our latest supporters!
Since the beginning of the year, the Center has received support from the Hewlett, Wilburforce, and Gates Family Foundations. These grants, committed for 2020 and 2021, will support a workshop at our fall symposium on working in rural communities; new work with the City and County of Denver to create and enhance natural climate solutions in this urban context; efforts to elevate diverse voices in conservation; and hosting a Colorado-focused connectivity convening. We’re so grateful for their support in these uncertain times!
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Gas Works Park in Seattle, Washington. Photo courtesy of The Cultural Landscape Foundation.
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About the Center
The Salazar Center supports and advances the health and connectivity of the natural systems and landscapes of North America – be they urban or rural; working or wildlands; public or private. We know that healthy natural systems support climate adaptation and resilience, protect biodiversity, and support long-term human health. Our intersectional approach builds bridges that connect academic research, community practice, and policy development.
We envision a future where healthy, connected landscapes in North America support a rich diversity of life, play a critical role in responding to climate change, support the production of clean air, water and other economic benefits for human communities, and are conserved and protected across political borders throughout the continent.
The Center benefits from the active engagement and leadership of former US Secretary of Interior, US Senator, and Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar.
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