‘Forest foods’ drive risks of next global pandemic

ABSTRACT

Speed read 70 percent of emerging infectious diseases originate from animals 6,000 different species seized in the past two decades Risk assessments are as crucial as culturally sensitive measures A taste for wild meats such as pangolins and civets, often known as ‘forest foods’ in tropical and subtropical regions, makes the emergence of another global pandemic increasingly likely, four international organisations say. The paper was produced by the FAO, the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), as part of their Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme. According to the FAO, the rate of net forest loss is estimated to have been 4.7 million hectares per year in the past decade.