WHO warns global warming causing rise in dengue cases

also decreased in Africa, while North and Central America reversed the trend and recorded a mangrove area net gain between 2010 and 2020. Increases in net loss were reported in South America and Oceania in the same period, however.

“This new study shows positive steps countries are taking towards slowing the loss of mangroves, but also underlines that we must continue to prioritize their restoration, sustainable use and conservation to safeguard their critical services for people and the planet,” said Zhimin Wu, director of FAO’s forestry

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HUMANITY depends on ecosystems, such as forests, wetlands and rivers, to survive. They provide clean water, house animals, like bees, that are essential to food production, and play a key role in combating the climate crisis.

But around the world, landscapes are degrading at an alarming rate, which along with pushing 1 million species towards extinction is taking a mounting economic toll, including on the farming sector.

In Europe, for instance, soil erosion affects 12 million hectares of land–about 7 percent of all farmland–and costs farmers 1.25 billion euros annually in lost productivity, according to European Union data.

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“Mangroves have a vital role to play in helping achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, providing food and livelihoods for coastal communities, protecting our coastlines against natural disasters, storing carbon, mitigating climate change, and harboring an extraordinary range of biodiversity,” he added.

Drivers of loss and gain in mangrove areas

Providing some of the most detailed information yet on what is happening to the world’s mangroves, the FAO study combined remote sensing satellite im-

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Station Southern Leyte has planted more than 150 mangroves in the 500-square-meter mangrove forest in Barangay Manhilo, Maasin. In addition to helping prevent soil erosion on shorelines, mangroves are a breeding habitat for many marine life and are a natural coastal defense in storm surges. Philippine Coast Guard agery and local expert knowledge to collect and analyze data across five regions over the 20-year period, including on the drivers of mangrove loss.

While most aquaculture practices do not affect mangroves, pond shrimp aquaculture, one of the main causes of mangrove loss, went from causing 31 percent of all loss between 2000 and 2010 to 21 percent between 2010 and 2020, according to the report.

Natural retraction was the second most important driver of mangrove loss, causing 26 percent of loss over the 20year period, at least partly caused by in- tensifying impacts of climate change such as rising sea levels and temperatures.

Natural disasters accounted for only 2 percent of all loss over the 20-year period. However, the area they destroyed increased threefold and is expected to worsen, the report warns, leaving coastal communities even more vulnerable to storm surges, floods and tsunamis.

In terms of drivers of mangrove area gain, natural expansion accounted for 82 percent of all the gains in mangrove area over the two decades, and restoration for the remaining 18 percent.

The findings of the study will help inform more targeted strategies for ending mangrove loss in different parts of the world.

The publication recommends that efforts to address land-use drivers of mangrove loss should continue, directing agricultural development to conserve remaining mangrove forests and promoting their sustainable use as well as livelihood support for coastal communities.

And as mangroves are among the most carbon-rich ecosystems on Earth, storing an estimated 6.23 giga tons of carbon worldwide in their biomass and soils, they should also be further emphasized in climate mitigation strategies, according to the publication.

The report was officially launched last week at a joint FAO-UNESCO celebration of International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem at the 6th International Mangrove Macrobenthos and Management Conference in Cartagena, Colombia. FAO News

A worker fumigates a house against the Aedes aegypti mosquito to prevent the spread of dengue fever in a neighborhood in Piura, northern Peru. AFP

GLOBAL warming marked by higher average temperatures, precipitation and longer periods of drought, could prompt a record number of dengue infections worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned.

“About half of the world’s population is at risk of dengue, and dengue affects approximately 129 countries,” said Dr. Raman Velayudhan, WHO’s head of the Global Program on control of Neglected Tropical Diseases.

The United Nations agency working to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.

“We estimate that about 100 to 400 million cases are reported every year. This is basically an estimate and the American region alone has reported about 2.8 million cases and 101,280 deaths.”

Dengue, also called breakbone fever, is the most common viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people. Most people with dengue do not have symptoms and recover in one to two weeks. But some people develop severe dengue and need hospital care.

“In some cases, especially when you get the infection for the second time, which we call a secondary infection, this can lead to severe dengue and it can be fatal too,” said Velayudhan in a recent briefing with journalists at the UN in Geneva.

Dengue is spread by the Aedes species of mosquito. The disease is more common in tropical and subtropical climates. Its incidence has grown dramatically worldwide in recent decades, said Velayudhan.

“In 2000, we had about half a million cases and today in 2022 we recorded over 4.2 million, which really shows an eight-fold increase.” He said that number could well increase “as we get more and more accurate figures.” UN News

“Unsustainable land-use practices from the way we build cities to the way we grow food is harming not just the planet and our livelihoods but our ability to feed 8 billion people,” said Natalia Alekseeva, UNEP coordinator for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. “Ecosystem restoration and nature-based solutions have proven to bring countless benefits to communities and societies around the world,” she added.

Globally, there is growing momentum to revive natural spaces, both on land and below water, that have been marred by human development, a process known as ecosystem restoration. Experts say that along with protecting nature, this can help farmers boost their yields and bolster global food security. It is estimated that every dollar invested in land restoration and sustainable land management can yield up to US$30 in economic benefits, including increased crop yields, improved water availability and reduced land degradation. Similar benefits hold true for fisheries. Two-thirds of ocean ecosystems are degraded or modified and one-third of marine fish populations are fished unsustainably. However, restoring mangrove forests along coastal areas, where young fish breed, could add 60 trillion edible fish to coastal waters every year. Here’s a closer look at three ways humanity can restore landscapes and supercharge food production. Revive the soil

Roughly 80 per cent of global arable land is impacted by at least one form of degradation, such as aridity, vegetation decline, soil salinization and loss of soil carbon. Soil erosion alone affects about one-fifth of farmlands worldwide and is estimated to have increased by 2.5 per cent between 2001 and 2012, primarily due to deforestation and cropland expansion.

Land degradation already negatively impacts 3.2 billion people–that’s 40 per cent of the world’s population. And it is projected that land degradation could reduce global food productivity by 12 per cent, causing food prices to soar by up to 30 per cent by 2040.

Restoring soil fertility and structure can be done in several ways, including rotating crops, applying organic matter and practicing minimal or zero tillage farming.

A prime example of this kind of work comes from Africa, where along the semi-arid margins of the Sahara Desert, 11 countries are building what has become known as the Great Green Wall, a continent wide ribbon of vegetation. In many places, the barrier is helping to hold back the desert, which states are hopeful will help bolster food security, counter poverty and promote peace. UNEP News Full story at www.manilastandard.net