Yellow fever may threaten biophilia in São Paulo city (commentary)

Every year since 1993, Fabio de Oliveira Roque, one of the authors of this piece, has returned to his hometown of São Paulo, a big city inside a biodiversity hotspot — Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. As part of his stay, he would always climb a mountain in Jaraguá State Park and stay there for some hours, just contemplating the ocean of buildings and the sparse green areas embedded in it. But his last holiday in São Paulo was different. Fabio asked his 15-year-old nephew, Gabriel, if he wanted to accompany him to the park, and Gabriel replied: “The park is closed, it is dangerous.” And it was true. Jaraguá State Park is one of São Paulo’s 23 protected areas that are closed to avoid risk of yellow fever. It previously received more than 500,000 visitors per year. The closing of a state park in this megalopolis points to a much larger trend that requires serious attention: Reconciling biodiversity conservation and urban development is one of the biggest challenges for humanity, considering that by 2030, 60 percent of people globally are expected to live in cities. There are currently numerous forest fragments rooted in an urban matrix. On the one hand, these remnant forests confer many benefits on human society, some with cultural aspects, such as urban sacred spots (e.g. sacred monkey forests), and some providing vital services, like mitigating flood risks in big tropical cities like São Paulo. Another benefit they provide is psychological: Getting in touch with biodiversity and experiencing…

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