The Tropics is a place of extraordinary diversity, culturally and ecologically. Most of the world’s languages are spoken in the Tropics, and it is home to 80% of terrestrial biodiversity as well as 95% of the world’s coral and mangrove ecosystems. An area that also holds over half of the world’s renewable water resources. The Tropics are also where the most significant impacts from climate change are likely to be felt, with cascading effects on the rest of the world.?
The??published by the??warned that “climate change will hit the Tropics harder first, and many developing countries are tropical. Yet developing countries and poor communities have less capacity than their richer counterparts to adapt to climate change and severe weather events.” And this is just one of the many aspects of concern that academic research is addressing.
In 2011, a global initiative led by?, a member institution of the?United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI)?in Australia, was established to better understand life and society in the Tropics. This has been a collective endeavor undertaken between JCU and several partner institutions worldwide, particularly in Brazil, Ecuador, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
As of 2022, more than three billion people live in the Tropics – approximately 43% of the world’s population. Importantly, it is also home to 56% of children under the age of five and more than 80% of the world’s poorest people suffering a wide range of disparities and inequalities. The disease burden is greater there, too, and fewer people have access to life-saving infrastructures such as electricity, improved water, and sanitation.? ?
The inaugural??report was in 2014. Following the launch of this landmark report, the importance of the Tropics was recognized in 2016, with the United Nations General Assembly??29 June as the?International Day of the Tropics. And like the Tropics itself, the project has continuously evolved and has undertaken more focused assessments on certain aspects, like the?COVID-19 pandemic?in the case of the?.
Indeed, the most recent focus report looked at how COVID-19 has affected tropical communities. Community restrictions and shutdowns effectively reduced the spread of the virus, with infection rates generally lower in many parts of the Tropics than in other parts of the world. However, there were flow-on effects to many health programs with a diversion of resourcing and funding and increased pressures on already overstretched health systems.
The pressures from the pandemic and community shutdowns also increased domestic violence in many countries. In addition, women were disproportionately affected in other ways. Job losses were higher for women, and school closures meant fewer women could work due to increased childcare responsibilities. Border closures also decimated the tourism industry globally, and?for many tropical island nations, this had a major impact on their economies.
“Being part of this project has been one of the most important roles in my career,” commented Dr. Shelley Templeman, Project Manager. “I am fascinated by the discoveries we make in pulling the information together and joining the dots on many facets of life in the Tropics. The progress we observe despite enormous challenges many tropical communities face demonstrates their strength and spirit, and makes me proud of their resilience,” she added.
Among the contributing authors, Madeline McKenzie, Ph.D. Candidate at JCU said that she considers herself “extremely fortunate to have been involved” in this project. “It helped to widen my perspective, and I hope that the strength of these communities continues as we move forward, and that the?State of the Tropics?project helps to highlight the beauty and spirit that this region offers to the rest of the world,” she said.
The?State of the Tropics?project continues to develop and provides critical opportunities for increased collaborations among institutions and communities. It focuses on the intrinsic wealth of the Tropics and how it can best be supported and sustained. For the world to prosper sustainably and ensure the health and welfare of its communities into the future, the Tropics needs to be recognized as the powerhouse it can and will be, given the opportunity.
