Robert Watson: Ecosystems protect us — it's about time we protected them

Given the cost of natural disasters, expanding protected areas to 30% of the planet should be seen as both an economic and moral imperative, writes Robert Watson

A man covers himself with a plastic sheet and walks in the rain ahead of Cyclone Amphan landfall, at Bhadrak district, in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, on May 20, 2020. The damage to the country could have been far worse, were it not for the natural protection offered by the Sundarbans forest. Picture: AP

When Cyclone Amphan came barreling up the Bay of Bengal this past May, South Asia’s first named storm of the year appeared to pose a massive threat to the people who live on the coastal floodplains, and to the animals and plants — including many endangered species — that rely on these sensitive ecosystems.

But nature came to the region’s rescue.