One Health Beyond Health: Integrated Approaches for Nature and People

The webinar explored how One Health can move beyond a predominantly health-focused approach and provide a framework for addressing the interconnected health of people, animals and ecosystems. Speakers shared practical examples ranging from protected and conserved areas and community-based surveillance to zoonotic disease prevention and ecosystem restoration.

The discussion highlighted a common message: health risks and environmental challenges cannot be addressed in isolation. Effective action requires collaboration across sectors and levels, while taking account of the ecological and social systems in which these risks emerge. 

Nature is part of the health solution 

Opening the discussion, Catherine Machalaba, Planetary Health Scientist at The Nature Conservancy and member of the IUCN SSC Wildlife Health Specialist Group and IUCN CEM, explored the growing relevance of One Health for conservation. 

Machalaba highlighted the role of protected and conserved areas, wildlife health and nature-based solutions. Protected areas can provide opportunities for early warning, investigation and management of health risks, while health-informed planning can help reduce practices associated with disease risks. Nature-based solutions can also support human health and climate adaptation through interactions with green and blue spaces. 

A central message was that One Health requires collaboration across sectors and levels, while considering both trade-offs and co-benefits. 

Making One Health collaboration work across institutions 

Nicola Wardrop, Global Health and One Health Specialist at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), shared the UK Government's experience of strengthening One Health coordination across government. 

Her presentation highlighted the importance of creating structures that allow existing expertise to be identified, connected and translated into collective action. Within FCDO and across the UK Government, dedicated networks and coordination mechanisms support communication, collaboration and organisational capacity.

Wardrop illustrated this through the UK's engagement in the development of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, where cross-government collaboration brought together expertise from different departments and agencies to develop coordinated, evidence-based positions on One Health and pandemic prevention.

Her key message was that One Health is about joining up the pieces where this adds value, rather than making every activity multi-sectoral. Coordination needs to be deliberately supported to connect existing expertise and initiatives around shared challenges. 

Preventing zoonotic disease at source

Elsa Léger, Chief Science Officer of PREZODE and specialist in zoonotic infectious diseases and One Health approaches at INRAE, focused on prevention before disease emergence. 

Zoonotic emergence is a process. Changes in land use, climate, production and trade can alter interactions between wildlife, livestock, people and ecosystems, creating conditions in which pathogens can cross species barriers. Surveillance, preparedness and response remain essential, but do not replace efforts to reduce risks at their source. 

Léger highlighted the importance of co-design with local communities and actors, alongside three complementary pathways: strengthening the knowledge base and surveillance; strengthening communities and cross-sector collaboration; and improving data governance, sustainable financing and political support. 

Successful approaches should transfer principles, capacities and learning rather than simply replicate interventions across different socio-ecological contexts. 

Integrating disease ecology into ecosystem restoration 

The final presentation, by Frauke Ecke, Professor of Ecology at the University of Helsinki, brought the One Health discussion directly into ecosystem restoration. 

Ecke explored how ecosystem restoration and rewilding can influence zoonotic disease risk, emphasising that restoration does not automatically reduce or increase disease risk. Instead, disease ecology should be considered as part of ecosystem management and restoration planning. 

Her presentation highlighted the influence of biodiversity, species communities, climate change and environmental contamination on disease risk. This points to the importance of approaches that are visionary, precautionary and adaptive – anticipating potential risks, monitoring outcomes and adjusting management as conditions and evidence change. 

Practical considerations include integrating disease ecology into forest management, education, measures supporting predator populations and reducing environmental contaminants. 

From individual projects to joined-up action 

Across the four presentations, a common theme emerged: One Health is not about making every activity multi-sectoral. It is about connecting the right expertise, people and institutions around shared challenges. 

The experience also highlighted the value of tangible outputs, capability development and sustainable collaboration. One Health is ultimately about joining up the pieces, rather than requiring every individual piece to become multi-sectoral. 

Looking ahead 

The webinar demonstrated the breadth of opportunities for applying One Health across conservation and environmental work, from protected and conserved areas and nature-based solutions to zoonotic disease prevention, community-based surveillance and ecosystem restoration. 

At the same time, the presentations highlighted the need to continue building evidence on what works, how different interventions interact, and how outcomes can be measured across contexts. 

For IUCN, this creates an opportunity to further connect expertise across the Union and with partners working at the interface of human, animal, and ecosystem health. 

The webinar marked an important step in continuing this conversation and exploring how integrated approaches can help deliver healthier ecosystems, healthier populations and more resilient societies. 

Watch the webinar recording and access the presentation materials: 

Recording, posted in YouTube: One Health Beyond Health: Integrated Approaches for Nature and People 

Learn more about the webinar: One Health Beyond Health: Integrated Approaches for Nature and People 

For further information or to connect on One Health at IUCN, please contact Paula Prist [email protected] and Isabelle Sala [email protected]