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The Hub at the Heart of One Health: Connecting People, Wildlife, and Planet

Posted on 14 May 2025

A Collaborative Approach to Safeguard People, Wildlife, and Ecosystems from Emerging Health Threats

Zoonotic diseases—those transmitted between animals and humans—account for over 60% of all known infectious diseases and up to 75% of emerging ones. Since 2000, the world has seen a rise in outbreaks including SARS, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, Nipah virus, Ebola, and COVID-19, all of which originated in animals. These health crises have resulted in millions of human deaths, billions in economic losses, and long-term disruption to societies and ecosystems. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has identified key drivers behind these outbreaks, including deforestation, Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT), agricultural expansion and the intensification of livestock production—all of which are prevalent across Southeast Asia.

The Asia-Pacific region is considered a global hotspot for zoonotic spillovers. Rich in biodiversity but undergoing rapid land-use change, the region has seen extensive habitat loss, rising human-wildlife interaction, and high levels of unregulated wildlife trade. In some areas, live animal markets operate with minimal oversight, creating high-risk conditions for cross-species disease transmission. At the same time, legal frameworks, health systems, and surveillance tools across the region remain fragmented. The risk is amplified by transboundary trade routes, weak enforcement, and limited integration of environmental and health data. Southeast Asia, with its mix of dense populations, biodiversity, and porous regulatory systems, is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to future pandemics.

In response to this growing threat, the WWF Asia-Pacific Counter-IWT Hub (the Hub) is spearheading a regional push to implement a One Health approach—an integrated framework that connects human, animal, and environmental health. The Hub plays a catalytic role in operationalizing One Health through field-based tools, science-policy engagement and regional collaboration. WWF’s focus is on preventing disease emergence at its ecological roots by tackling drivers such as wildlife trade and ecosystem degradation, while building resilience across conservation landscapes and communities. With an emphasis on applied science, cross-sector partnerships and policy influence, WWF’s One Health efforts aim not only to protect nature, but to protect people and economies from the next pandemic.

From Global Frameworks to Ground-Level Impact: Operationalizing One Health Across Asia-Pacific

In October 2024, WWF launched Toward a Healthy Planet: Implementing a One Health Approach to Conservation at COP16. The report presents six strategic pillars for integrating One Health into conservation practice: maintaining ecosystem health (“landscape immunity”); tackling high-risk wildlife trade; strengthening early pathogen detection; enabling preventive medicine; managing livestock sustainably; and promoting behavior change. Developed in close collaboration with WWF regional teams, the guidance reflects both global science and field realities—and the Hub is already translating these principles into action on the ground.

In alignment with WWF’s efforts, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted Decision 16/19 on Biodiversity and Health at its sixteenth meeting in Cali, Colombia in November 2024. This decision acknowledges the vital connection between biodiversity and human health and introduces a Global Action Plan to guide countries in applying integrated approaches like One Health. It calls for stronger policy coordination, sustainable wildlife management, early pathogen detection, and ecosystem-based solutions—all core components of WWF’s work in the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, WWF has been involved in the consultation process in crafting the ‘Pandemic Agreement’, the World Health Organisation’s convention on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response which advocates for a One Health approach.

At the heart of WWF’s regional One Health work lies a triad of interconnected strategies—applying predictive technology, building strong partnerships and engaging local communities in frontline surveillance. A key innovation is the Zoonotic Risk Predictor (ZRP), a machine-learning system designed to identify potential spillover hotspots before outbreaks occur. Co-developed by WWF, Atos, the Southeast Asia One Health University Network (SEAOHUN), and supported by the World Organization on Animal Health (WOAH), the ZRP analyzes land-use change, biodiversity patterns, trade flows and disease data to generate risk alerts. The tool is being piloted in the Mekong region—where deforestation, wildlife markets, and livestock converge—to help conservation and health authorities better target prevention efforts. Phase 1 is completed while Phase 2 is in development and will focus on ground-truthing and further training data collection.

‘The development of the Zoonotic Risk Predictor is a new and exciting angle from which we can further understand the dynamics of zoonotic emergence and spillover. While there is a long way to go, we applaud the HUB’s efforts in exploring the use of machine learning in disease surveillance and prediction,’ said Dr. Serge Morand of Kasetsart University, Bangkok and member of the One Health High Level Expert Panel, a group of leading academics advising the United Nations.

To complement the use of technology, WWF is building a strong foundation of cross-sectoral collaboration. In November 2024, WWF entered a strategic partnership with SEAOHUN. The agreement fosters co-learning, research, and capacity-building between academic institutions and WWF field offices in eight countries. It represents a critical effort to unite public health and conservation around a shared goal: preventing the next pandemic before it starts.

‘The partnership between WWF and SEAOHUN opens fantastic opportunities for knowledge sharing and collaborative initiatives, beginning with the first WWF/SEAOHUN Fellowship focused on wildlife market surveillance in Laos. We are keen to expand our own expertise in environmental health and mark this joint fellowship as a sustained and meaningful impact.’, said Dr. Tongkorn Meeyam, Executive Director of SEAOHUN.

The basis of the WWF-SEAOHUN Fellowship is the use of a Tool for rapid assessment of wildlife markets in the Asia-Pacific Region for risk of future zoonotic disease outbreaks, which was co-developed by the HUB in 2021 with the City University of Hong Kong, the University of Hong Kong and WWF-Germany. This tool assesses the zoonotic disease spillover risk of wildlife markets based on the availability of different wildlife taxa that have the potential to carry highly virulent and transmissible diseases, and the relative risk associated with different categories of markets and trade chains. These two factors give users, like policy makers or One Health professionals, a way to quickly assess the relative zoonotic risk of a wildlife market.

In parallel, WWF is shaping the policy environment to support One Health adoption at scale. The organization contributed to the ASEAN Strategy for Preventing Zoonotic Disease Transmission from Wildlife Trade, officially adopted in 2023, and co-authored the One Health chapter in the ASEAN Handbook on Legal Cooperation to Combat Wildlife Crime. These efforts embed environmental health into legal and institutional frameworks across Southeast Asia, reinforcing the need for multi-country cooperation on disease prevention.

WWF’s approach extends to grassroots surveillance and citizen engagement. In partnership with WWF-Greater Mekong and utilising the free app, iNaturalist, the Hub launched a training program to help local communities monitor wildlife markets. Active in cities such as Singapore, Kota Kinabalu, Vientiane, Hue, and Hanoi, the initiative equips participants to record and identify species in trade, contributing to WWF’s growing iNaturalist Collection Project: Species in Trade. These data support policy development, regulatory enforcement and targeted public awareness efforts.

From Challenges to Opportunity: Building a Resilient One Health Future

Despite growing momentum, implementing the One Health approach across diverse sectors and countries remains complex. Coordination between environmental, public health, and veterinary actors can be fragmented. Governance and data collection systems often operate in silos. Local surveillance capacities vary, and conservation-focused institutions are still working to embed health considerations into their strategies. But each of these challenges also represents an opportunity—for deeper collaboration, targeted innovation and institutional learning.

‘While there is agreement in terms of the definition of the One Health approach, there is still so much to explore and understand when it comes to its implementation, particularly in relation to the integration of different types of knowledge. It is therefore essential to aim for diversity amongst partners offering a variety of perspectives, as this can bridge gaps that are not easily visible when only relying on classic reductionistic scientific methods. At City University of Hong Kong, we welcome WWF’s engagement in One Health,’ said Dr. Dirk Pfeiffer, Centre for Applied One Health Research and Policy Advice, City University, Hong Kong.

WWF’s One Health work in Asia-Pacific is demonstrating that progress is possible when diverse partners come together around a shared vision. Already, pilot initiatives are yielding actionable insights—from predictive disease modeling to improved monitoring of wildlife trade and policy influence at the regional level. These experiences are informing a practical roadmap for what comes next.

In the year ahead, WWF’s priorities include scaling up the ZRP across high-priority areas, supporting country offices in mainstreaming One Health into project planning, and strengthening the application of WWF’s new indicators to track impact. The Hub will continue engaging with governments, academic partners, and communities to advance policy coherence and unlock new investments in nature-based pandemic prevention.

As climate change, biodiversity loss, and disease risk intersect more frequently, One Health is not just a conservation lens—it’s a survival strategy. By restoring ecosystems, reducing high-risk wildlife trade, building community engagement, and embracing innovation, WWF and its partners are creating the foundation for a more secure, sustainable future.

In Asia-Pacific and beyond, WWF’s One Health work is a call to rethink how we protect health—by starting with the health of the planet itself.

Forest Guard Group meets with local villager’s house in order to raise awareness regarding the importance of protection of the wildlife and forests located in Karoong Aho Village, A Luoi District, Thua Thien Hue, Viet Nam.

Aerial view of the River Kinabatangan and riverine tropical rainforest, Sabah, Malaysia, Borneo, Asia.

Rainforest tree stump and cut tree with chainsaw wielding man Borneo, Malaysia.

Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) Singapore Night Safari, Singapore.

Masked palm civet (Paguma larvata) found trapped by snare set in the Thua Thien Hue Saola Nature Reserve in Viet Nam by Forest Guard of WWF-Viet Nam. It was later released back to the wild.

An iNaturalist observation of dead bats and birds for sale at a market in northern Laos.

The Hub at the Heart of One Health: Connecting People, Wildlife, and Planet

From Global Frameworks to Ground-Level Impact: Operationalizing One Health Across Asia-Pacific

From Challenges to Opportunity: Building a Resilient One Health Future

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