Joining the Dots Ecosystem services. Climate change. Global pandemic.

In this article, Biba Jasmine reflects on the linkages among ecosystem services, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. The important components of ecosystems are also discussed with a focus on policies in place.

- Biba Jasmine

The unprecedented crisis humanity is going through due to the spread of coronavirus demands a serious pause and a somber introspection on what mankind has done to the environment, what actions are needed currently, and how and in what ways performance and management need to be aligned for effective and efficient actions. India, a megadiverse country with only 2.4 per cent of the world’s land area, 7–8 per cent of the recorded species diversity, supporting around 18 per cent of the human population and a substantial percentage of cattle population, is taking adequate measures, undoubtedly, to develop responsibly and in an environment-friendly manner. However, the question remains—if that is enough and most importantly, if that is substantial?

While we know a lot about how many ecosystems operate around us with such complexity and on such a large scale that it would be difficult for humanity to replace them, no matter how much money has been invested in the process. However, processes such as breakdown and decomposition of dead organisms and wastes; the recycling of nutrients for a new life on land, in rivers, lakes, and streams, and the vast blue oceans; and regulation of microclimate—are all remarkably paramount and need to be dedicatedly preserved.

A tale about a temperate forest demonstrates well the abundance and complexity ecological systems can offer. Temperate forests act as CO 2 sinks by carbon sequestration in the trees and soils, thus significantly reducing human-caused climate change and thereby stabilizing local climates, the uptake of water by tree roots; reduce soil erosion by dampening the power of rain and by tree roots binding soils; provides goods, such as timber, medicines, and food; reduce risk of infectious diseases to humans such as Lyme disease.