Leo Heileman is Regional Representative and Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, United Nations Environment Programme.

Celebrating and Safeguarding Biodiversity to Prevent the Next Pandemic

Tepuy Kukenan in the Gran Sabana, Canaima National Park, Venezuela. ©Paolo Costa Baldi
View of a forest in Narrowsburg, New York State, United States, after a rain storm. 3 June 2020. UN Photo/Mark Garten

Making our cities and rural areas more resilient and restoring degraded lands and forests will reduce our vulnerability to future zoonotic diseases and help mitigate climate change while maintaining our biodiversity, water supply and planetary health.