'When the forests burn, the sickness comes': how protecting trees shields millions from disease

Preserving the Amazonian rainforest keeps communities safe from the health risks of wildfires and deforestation, research has foundFor Bolivian park ranger Marcos Uzquiano, the fallout from wildfires in the Amazon goes far beyond the damage they do to wildlife and biodiversity. "It's devastating - it undermines all the functions and benefits that forests provide to Indigenous communities. They affect the air we breathe and cause respiratory infections, eye irritation and throat inflammation," he says.Uzquiano's experience at Beni Biosphere Reserve is reflected in new research which suggests that preserving Amazonian forests helps to protect millions from disease. Analysing 20 years of data on 27 diseases - including malaria, Chagas disease and hantavirus - researchers found that municipalities in the Amazon biome near healthy forests on Indigenous lands across eight countries faced a lower risk of disease. Continue reading...