WWF International researched 29 countries that deforested the most forests and other ecosystems between 2000 and 2018. Brazil emerged as one of the main destroyers, with the Amazon and Cerrado at the top of the list of most damaged biomes. The results raise an alarm: the country could be a breeding ground for new zoonoses and diseases similar to Covid-19. The research, titled "Deforestation Fronts: Vectors and Responses in an Evolving World," was released Wednesday and conducted at Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and Oceania.
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According to experts, deforestation alters the balance between humans and wildlife, paving the way for the emergence of zoonotic diseases (those that pass from animals to humans), such as Covid-19, Ebola, and others.
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The results presented are nothing to celebrate: at least two-thirds of the global forest cover loss over these eight years occurred in these tropical and subtropical regions. 43 million hectares were devastated, roughly equivalent to the area of Morocco.
