One Health to be expanded in Central Asia

At a regional workshop from 27th-29th March the five Central Asian countries jointly confirmed their interest to mitigate the risk of zoonoses in Central Asia by enhancing overall landscape resilience through the One Health approach. The workshop was the final phase of a 1.5 years preparation phase  to prepare the multi-annual project of the International Climate Initiative (ICI), in which the Michael Succow Foundation is a partner . "It is well known that biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and climate change combined increase the risks of zoonotic disease outbreaks. We are interested to support the coordinated efforts among Central Asian countries to address those risks by raising awareness about the linkages between conservation, ecosystem health and human well-being”, Aziz Abdukhakimov, Minister of Natural Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan, addressed the participants in Tashkent. His Ministry of Natural Resources of Uzbekistan and IUCN co-hosted the workshop.

The countries are ready to take steps towards improving effective governance and management of protected and conserved areas, and to build the resilience of both ecosystems and society in facing these crises. The countries are willing to apply the One Health approach together with the IUCN Green List Standard of Protected and Conserved Areas for nature conservation, best practices related to species management, as well as latest knowledge on zoonosis research and technology (Strong regional commitment to One Health approach in Central Asia - News | IUCN)

These initial steps were made through a collaboration led by IUCN between ministries, scientific institutions, civil society throughout the Central Asian region, Michael Succow Foundation, the Secretariat of the Convention of Migratory Species (CMS), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), and the Zoological Society of London. 

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.