BIODIVERSITY FOR ZOONOTIC INFECTIOUS DISEASE CONTROL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Biodiversity or biological diversity is the totality of all the living organisms including the genetic level i.e., totality of all the living plants, animals and microorganisms of a particular region or throughout the entire World. The biodiversity of an ecosystem contributes to the sustainability of that ecosystem as well as the global ecosystem to make our Planet competent for all the living organisms. Many of our ecological services mediated by ecosystem processes are directly or indirectly related with biodiversity for the survival of all the living organisms including human beings. Biodiversity also helps to supply the natural resources by supplying the living organisms, reforming the climatic conditions, maintaining the natural food chains, giving a pollution free air, water and soil, maintaining the bio-geo-chemical cycles and conserving all the natural resources. Today global biodiversity is in a serious threat. Continuous increase of indiscriminate use of natural resources may be harmful for all the living organisms including human beings. Emergence of vector borne and infectious diseases is a common feature and the selection of hosts by the pathogens with its different serotypes is continuously changing along with the transforming climatic conditions and rapid loss of biodiversity. Conservation is the only way and strategy for protecting the biodiversity and thereby the global ecosystem. Increasing the biodiversity or biological organisms, maintaining and conserving them properly throughout the World are utmost requirement now-a-days. Hence on the onset of unusual and unwanted COVID-19 pandemic situation we are compelled to rethink about the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of nature and natural resources to make our Planet pollution free and make it liveable for all the living organisms including human beings in near future. Now “It‟s time for Nature” and propagate the concept of “Nature-based Solutions” among the people to provide essential resources and infrastructure for supporting life on Earth.