By Foster Obi
The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) will on Friday this week hold a special event tagged “Time for Nature: Animal, Humans and Environment interface” which aims to highlight the crucial role of healthy ecosystems for our health and food in the context of a post-COVID-19 world.
A statement from FAO Newsroom said, “The health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and that of our shared environment. At a pivotal time when the world faces the unprecedented challenges and threats of COVID-19, it is critical to recognize that we are completely dependent on healthy and vibrant ecosystems for our food, water, medicines, clothes, fuel, shelter, energy and well-being, and re-examine our relationship with nature.”
It noted that, “This year’s observance of the World Environment Day will highlight what needs to be done to transform our food and agricultural systems and restore our ecosystems and biodiversity to ensure that they are instrumental in the efforts to build back better after COVID-19.
“Sound ecosystem management is the best solution to achieve food security and protect human health while contributing to the conservation of biodiversity and climate adaptation and mitigation.
The event will feature as discussants, QU Dongyu, Director-General, FAO, Monique Eloit, Director-General, World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) , Elisabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Panel 1: Links between biodiversity, health and diseases transmission , Serge Morand, Researcher, Ecologist and Evolutionary Biologist, CNRS-CIRAD, Keith Hamilton, Head of the Preparedness and Resilience Department, OIE, Jeff LeJeune, Food Safety and Quality Officer, Secretariat of the FAO/WHO, Joint Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA)
Panel 2: Food production and biodiversity management: trade-offs to reduce emerging infectious diseases- FAO experiences , Robert Nasi, Director General, Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Wantanee Kalpravidh, Senior Animal Health Officer, Head, Global Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), Melba Reantaso, Aquaculture Officer, Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, FAO
Panel 3: Ecosystem-based approaches to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ensuring ecosystem services – Vision from FAO members
Gloria Isabel Ramírez Ríos, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Colombia to FAO,Jan Tombinski, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the European Union to FAO, Alue Dohong, Vice-Minister of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia.
The Closing remarks will be by Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General FAO.
