Deforestation: Challenges & opportunities

Data is increasingly showing us that a driving force behind the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic was deforestation. Deforestation is defined as “the permanent and intentional clearing of forested land by humans, often for agricultural expansion, timber harvesting for fuel or building materials, mining, and human settlement.” Areas of forest can also become deforested during natural disasters like wildfires, tornadoes, and cyclones. As human activity begins to encroach on natural ecosystems, opportunities for cross-contamination of viruses between animals and humans skyrocket. If we don’t begin to scale back the devastation of our natural resources and regenerate what’s already been lost, we’re setting ourselves up for a repeat of the situation we’re in now.

The good news? BU has faculty and alumni experts researching deforestation and the opportunities present to aid in the fight against climate change.

Moderator

Dr. Adil Najam
Dean at Boston University, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies

Speakers

Les Kaufman
Professor at Boston University, Marine Program

Anukool Lakhina (CAS’01, GRS’01, ’07)
Co-Founder, Wonder Labs