Acclaimed environmental journalist John Vidal joins the show to discuss the current pandemic's links to the wildlife trade and the destruction of nature. 

We speak about his recent Guardian/Ensia feature on what we know about the origins of the outbreak, what he’s learned while reporting from similar outbreak epicenters in the past, how the destruction of nature creates the perfect conditions for diseases to emerge, and what we can do to prevent future outbreaks.

See related Mongabay podcast episode: How studying an African bat might help us prevent future Ebola outbreaks

Here’s this episode’s top news:

• National parks in Africa shutter over COVID-19 threat to great apes
• Shell of bioluminescent shrimp not only glows but detects light
• Seychelles extends protection to marine area twice the size of Great Britain

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