Grow back greener

The pandemic offers us the chance to tread lighter on the land allow nature to restore itself

Soon after the coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan in December 2019, it spread rapidly within weeks to become an international public health emergency. Though it took months for the root of the illness to be identified, the virus was carried by human hosts in a highly interconnected globalised world.

What would start as fever, chills, and flu-like symptoms began to lead to more severe cases of cardiac injury, respiratory failure and death. Those with pre-existing health conditions and the elderly were particularly vulnerable.

The pandemic hotspots shifted from China to northern Italy, New York, then it was Brazil and the second wave that is ravaging India and Nepal. People were locked in at home for months to stop the spread, and it came at an additional cost — the rise of a mental health crisis globally.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected everyone and every aspect of our lives. The lockdowns may have helped contain the virus, but it destabilised economies, businesses went bankrupt, people lost jobs, again exacerbating the impact on mental health in societies.

The coronavirus emerged because of the over-exploitation of nature by a globalised mass consumption society. But the pandemic it unleashed has allowed us to think…