Biodiversity and Health

Other CBD & WHO Publications

Ongoing

The full list of recent publications by WHO, Public health, environmental and social determinants of health (PHE) can be accessed here.

2020

Infectious diseases cause over one billion human infections per year, with millions of deaths each year globally. Extensive health and financial burden is seen from both established and emerging infectious diseases. Infectious diseases also affect plants and animals, which may pose threats to agriculture and water supplies with additional impacts on human health. This Question and Answers, prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) under their joint work programme on biodiversity and health, and launched on the occasion of the 2020 International Day for Biodiversity, summarizes some of the interlinkages between biodiversity and infectious diseases.

This report provides an overview of emerging infectious diseases including zoonoses, with a focus on coronaviruses and examines the linkages between habitat loss, agriculture, the trade and use of wildlife, and the emergence of novel zoonoses. It provides examples of the application of the One Health approach and related policy response options that can be implemented by governments, civil society and the business sector in their efforts to tackle the drivers of zoonotic diseases with the goal to minimize the risk of future zoonotic disease outbreaks.

The report analyses: (a) how the relationship between people and biodiversity underpins disease emergence and provides opportunities for pandemic prevention, control and response measures; (b) land use and climate change as drivers of pandemic risk and biodiversity loss; (c) links between the wildlife trade, biodiversity and pandemics; and (d) how controlling pandemics relies on, and affects, biodiversity. It also identifies several policy options to foster transformative change towards preventing pandemics including policies to reduce the role of land-use change and the wildlife trade in pandemic emergence.

This joint statement by the 15 members of the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management sets out four guiding principles to reduce risk from zoonotic diseases and build more collaborative approaches in human health and wildlife management: (1) recognize the importance of the use of wildlife for many communities, including indigenous peoples and local communities, in policy responses; (2) maintain and restore healthy and resilient ecosystems to reduce risks of zoonotic spillover and future pandemics; (3) persecution, including killing of wild animals suspected of transmitting diseases will not address the causes of the emergence or spread of zoonotic diseases; (4) regulate, manage and monitor harvesting, trade and use of wildlife to ensure it is safe, sustainable and legal.

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

  • A. Marques, H. M Pereira, C. Krug, P. W Leadley, P. Visconti, S. R Januchowski-Hartley, R. M Krug, R. Alkemade, C. Bellard, W. WL Cheung, V. Christensen, H D Cooper, T Hirsch, R. Hoft, J. van Kolck, T. Newbold, K. Noonan-Mooney, E. C Regan, C. Rondinini, U Rashid Sumaila, L. SL Teh, M. Walpole. (2014). A framework to identify enabling and urgent actions for the 2020 Aichi Targets. Basic and Applied Ecology, 15(8), 633-638.

  • C. Romanelli, Carlos Corvalan, H. David Cooper, Lucien Manga, Marina Maiero, and Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum. (2014) From Manaus to Maputo: Toward a Public Health and Biodiversity Framework. EcoHealth 11 (3): 292-299.

  • C. Romanelli, Cooper, H. David., de Souza Diaz, Braulio Ferreira (2014), The integration of biodiversity into One Health. Revue Scientifique et Technique 33(2): 487-496.

  • D. P Tittensor, M. Walpole, S. LL Hill, D.G. Boyce, G. L Britten, N. D Burgess, S. HM Butchart, P. W Leadley, E. C Regan, R. Alkemade, R. Baumung, C. Bellard, L. Bouwman, N. J Bowles-Newark, A. M Chenery, W. WL Cheung, V. Christensen, H D. Cooper, An. R Crowther, M. JR Dixon, A. Galli, V. Gaveau, R. D Gregory, N. L Gutierrez, T. L Hirsch, R. Höft, S. R Januchowski-Hartley, M. Karmann, C. B Krug, F. J Leverington, J. Loh, R. Kutsch Lojenga, K. Malsch, A. Marques, D. HW Morgan, P. J Mumby, T. Newbold, K. Noonan-Mooney, S. N Pagad, B. C Parks, H. M Pereira, T. Robertson, C. Rondinini, L. Santini, J. PW Scharlemann, S. Schindler, U Rashid Sumaila, L. SL Teh, J. Van Kolck, P. Visconti, Y. Ye (2014). A mid-term analysis of progress toward international biodiversity targets. Science, 346(6206): 241-244.

2012

2011

2010

2009

  • Campbell-Lendrum, D., Bertollini, R., Neira, M., Ebi, K., & McMichael, A. (2009). http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(09)60926-0.pdf Health and climate change: a roadmap for applied research

2008

2005

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