Benjamin Roche
Research director at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD)
Audrey Arnal
Associate researcher at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) and at UMR UM/CNRS/IRD MIVEGEC, Montpellier, France
Preventing zoonotic diseases implies rethinking public policies at the interface between biodiversity, human health and socio-economic dynamics. As damage to ecosystems increases at-risk contact between wild animals, domestic animals and humans, a large number of international and regional initiatives show that biodiversity conservation can be an effective public health tool. This article analyzes how institutional frameworks – from the IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) to the OHHLEP (One Health High-Level Expert Panel), the Global Biodiversity Framework and programs such as PREZODE (PREventing ZOonotic Disease Emergence) and ZODIAC (ZOonotic Disease Integrated ACtion) – interact and reciprocally support national and local preventative strategies. Drawing on examples from the Caribbean and Latin America, it illustrates how ecological research, multi-actor governance and community participation make it possible to design coherent interventions, from global to local. The authors argue for integrated governance, where protections for the living world become a central pillar for resilience in public health.
