with humans, often in astonishingly unsanitary conditions. When we assault the wild places that harbour so much biodiversity, we are disregarding a significant aspect of this biodiversity—the unseen domain of undocumented viruses and pathogens. These microbes are not naturally human pathogens. They become human pathogens because we offer them that opportunity. Natural ecosystems are not what pose the threat—the human activity that disrupts these systems is the real culprit.
By teaming up with ecologists, conservation scientists and citizen action groups, landscape architects and allied designers have a pivotal role to play in promoting conservation as unequivocally the most important pillar of the design professions, far above the artistry or craftsmanship that we promote in our professional photographs and design magazines.
Rich Carey/
Shutterstock.com 3
FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE Humanity’s purposeful destruction of the planet’s biodiversity is even more devastating to planetary balance in the era of rapid climate change. What were once stable ecosystems for millennia are transforming quicker than the species that live in them can adapt, leading to displacement and increased contact with humans. The impact is shockingly simple and linear. Droughts, floods, glacial melting and forest fires each contribute to the accelerated displacement of millions of species. This shift leads to closer contacts between humans and wildlife, often inflicting trauma on the animal populations. Stressed animals, just like humans, become immune-compromised and thus more susceptible to disease, and more likely to shed higher viral loads7
. This increases the risk of spreading new diseases to the livestock or humans with which they come into contact. The result is well-documented. Recent outbreaks of Ebola are linked to deforestation8
and
encroaching human settlement throughout West Africa. The emergence of various avian influenzas has been traced to intensive chicken farming where crowded, unhygienic conditions elevated stress levels in the associated poultry population. Preliminary research into COVID-19 has led scientists to hypothesise that this latest coronavirus may have emerged from bats and pangolins9 structure to related viruses found in those species.
due to a resemblance in its molecular
This risk of pathogens emerging due to climate change isn’t limited only to the tropics, or to unsanitary markets in developing countries. Recently, researchers announced the discovery of 28 previously unknown viruses entombed for 15,000 years within a melting glacier10
in Tibet. As the planet continues to warm, it is
conceivable that even more pathogens like these could be released into the environment, with unpredictable consequences. Unfortunately, the image of an emaciated polar bear no longer tugs at our collective heartstrings. And why would it? Humans, just like any other species, are focused on our own survival first. Now is the time to shift the climate and environmental advocacy narrative from one of compassion to one of fear. You may not be able to imagine how your grandchildren’s lives will be impacted by a 6-foot rise in sea levels, but when your own existence (and economic stability) is challenged by a deadly virus, you demand action—and fast. Humans are the ultimate umbrella species. If we can convince ourselves that saving the planet’s biodiversity will prevent the next outbreak, we may have a chance.
As a profession, landscape architecture has already demonstrated our value through resiliency plans to accommodate urban flooding and sea-level rise. What comes next is a shift of our focus from protecting the built urban realm to a more holistic, reparative approach—a shift from adaptation towards mitigation. For the sake of the survival of our own species, landscape architects and allied designers must use our collective professional voice and commit to no longer working on greenfield sites, and instead focus on restoring our rural and peri-urban environments to pre-development conditions.
-century Kinshasa and Kuala Lumpur, the esteemed American way of life may very well be our downfall. In our pre-pandemic ignorance, most urbanists pointed to climate change as the most dangerous impact of our cherished suburban lifestyle. To be sure, the higher carbon emissions and rise in chronic health problems11
ADVOCATING FOR RESPONSIBLE URBANISATION AND LIMITING SPRAWL The export of American culture is one of the most influential forces in our interconnected world. From Dakar to Delhi, American pop music, movies and artery-clogging cuisine is ubiquitous. One of the most damaging exports, however, is the world’s adoration and adaptation of the American suburb. When the 20th 21st
-century model for housing the swelling populations of Long Island and Los Angeles translates to associated with living in subdivisions aren’t going away, but COVID-19 has exposed another
threat that we’ve chosen to ignore. The next pandemic may very well result from our addiction to—and exportation of—sprawl.
The increasing traction of the anti-density movement in the wake of the current outbreak is alarming. Headlines proclaiming how sprawl may save us12
contracting the novel coronavirus are deceptive. Recent studies13
3 Kuching, Malaysia: Deforestation of a rainforest in Borneo for oil palm plantations and construction
16 FUTURARC
and that living in cities puts citizens at higher risk for have debunked this myth, finding little
correlation between population density in cities and rates of COVID-19, instead attributing the spread of the virus to overcrowding due to inequity and delays in governmental responsiveness. Mounting evidence14
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