At the World Biodiversity Forum in Davos (https://
The session highlighted the pressing issue of growing landscape degradation and its correlation with increased disease spillover rates from animals to humans. This phenomenon presents a critical question: Can ecosystem restoration mitigate the risk of disease spillover, or might it inadvertently amplify such risks through further ecological shifts? Recognizing the complexity of restored environments, which often continue to experience anthropogenic pressures, the discussion centered on understanding whether restored landscapes could enhance resilience or exacerbate disease emergence.
Valén Holle of the ZOE project contributed by examining how phenology changes in vector-borne zoonotic diseases interact with climate and land-use changes, emphasizing the evolving challenges in anticipating spillover events. From the BEPREP project, Frauke Ecke presented a meta-analytical approach indicating that the zoonotic risk reduction associated with ecosystem restoration is context-dependent, suggesting that restoration efforts might not uniformly mitigate risks across all scenarios. Soushieta Jagadesh from RESTOREID introduced their policy insights on addressing disease and ecological risks within the framework of risk-smart restoration. Brad Duthie from RESTOREID contributed by showcasing a general tool designed to create games with valid ecological models, aimed at facilitating research and stakeholder engagement.
