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Saturday, April 09, 2005
More health problems to come our way soon
By Henrylito D. Tacio
SOME 60 percent of the benefits that the global ecosystem provides to support life on Earth (such as fresh water, clean air and a relatively stable climate) are being degraded or used unsustainably, according the recently released Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA).
More than 1,300 experts work on the report. They believe that harmful consequences of this degradation to human health are already being felt and could grow significantly worse over the next 50 years.
For instance, the report warns that the erosion of ecosystems could lead to an increase in existing diseases such as malaria and cholera, as well as a rising risk of new diseases emerging. Worsening ecosystems will also affect the world's ability to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
"Ecosystems are the planet's life-support system. They are fundamental to human health and indispensable to the well-being of all people everywhere in the world," said Dr Kerstin Leitner, World Health Organization (WHO) Assistant Director-General for Sustainable Development and Healthy Environments.
"The work of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment makes clear how ecosystems and human health are inter-twined--and further highlights how important it is that decisions related to economic development also protect the environment, in order to ultimately safeguard human health," added Dr. Leitner, who is also a member of the MA Board.
The links between environmental change and human health are complex because they are often indirect, displaced in space and time, and dependent on a number of modifying forces.
There are two ways of avoiding disease and injury caused by ecosystem disruption. One is to prevent, limit or manage environmental damage; the other way is to find ways to protect individuals and populations from the consequences of ecosystem change.
Take the case of water. It has been reported that water pollution, poor sanitation and water shortages kill over 12 million people every year.
Seventy-five percent of water is used for agriculture. Crop failure due to lack of water, or too much water, can mean starvation for many.
The MA report contends that intact and healthy ecosystems are often worth more than altered, damaged and degraded ones. Wetlands are important habitats for fish, birds and plants.
They are also natural water pollution filters and water storage facilities. They also have high recreational value.
An intact wetland, in this case in Canada, is worth US$6,000 a hectare whereas one that has been cleared for intensive agriculture is worth only around US$2,000 a hectare.
The same argument is made for intact mangroves versus the same area cleared for shrimp farming--US$1,000 a hectare in Thailand versus about US$200 a hectare when cleared for aquaculture.
The recreational value of ecosystem services by citing the case of Marine Management Areas in Hawaii. It claims that among six of these areas the recreational value ranges from US$300,000 to US$35 million.
The report also looks at the costs of damaging and degrading ecosystems. It cites the collapse in the early 1990s of the Newfoundland cod fishery due to over-fishing.
This put tens of thousands of people out of work and cost US$2 billion in income support and retraining.
The burning of 10 million hectares of Indonesia's forests in the late 1990s, cost an estimated $9 billion in increased health care, lost production and lost tourism revenues.
The report says the costs of restoring ecosystems can be high, indicating that it is cheaper to conserve them rather than pollute and clean up afterwards.
For example, the State of Louisiana in the United States has put in place a US$14 billion wetland restoration plan to protect 10,000 square kilometers of marsh, swamp and barrier islands in part to reduce storm surges generated by hurricanes.
The report also argues that human security is also at risk from ecosystem decline. It argues that the severity and frequency of floods and fires has been aggravated by damage to the Earth's natural capital.
"Changing landscapes--such as the clearing of forests for human settlement, agriculture, and timber--have contributed to the severity of flash floods and landslides in the Philippines," reports Kathleen Mogelgaard of the Washington-based Population Reference Bureau.
"Such natural disasters have claimed the lives of thousands of Filipinos," she added. A case in point is the well-known 1991 flash flood in Ormoc City in Leyte in which at least 6,000 people died.
"One of the striking and over-arching conclusions of this assessment lies in the fundamental need to ensure ecological sustainability to safeguard ecosystems and therefore protect human health in the long-term," pointed out Dr. Carlos Corvalan, a WHO scientist who contributed to the MA report.
"Where ill-health is caused by excessive consumption of what the ecosystem provides such as water, food and energy, substantial reduction in consumption-- and right of access to essential resources to marginalized communities--would have major health benefits," Dr. Corvalan said.
"For every action," said Dr. John Eyles, an expert in environmental health policy, "there is a consequent reaction--perhaps unintended, but not unpredictable."
To which Mahatma Monhandas Gandhi may add: "There is sufficiency for man's need, but not for man's greed."
For comments, write me at tasyo2002@yahoo.com
(April 9, 2005 issue)
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