Wildlife Health Australia (WHA) is currently expanding its roles in One Health by exploring opportunities to work more closely with wildlife health professionals in the Indo-Pacific.
‘One Health’ is a global approach that recognises that the health of humans, animals and the environment are fundamentally linked for survival.
In June and July, WHA are co-running some workshops to help promote global sharing of knowledge and techniques, in line with both the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) wildlife health framework, and WHA’s WILDplan strategic plan.
Workshop facilitator Steve Unwin said, “We are working with key organisations and networks in Africa and also in South-East Asia to promote ground-up, practitioner engagement, to complement Government and WOAH capacity-building programs. These workshops do not stand alone; they are part of ongoing capability programs operating since 2003 in Africa and 2009 SE Asia.”
Workshop details:
Workshop 1
20 – 26 June, 2022. Improving tuberculosis surveillance and diagnostics at the Human-Wildlife Interface.
Location: Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya
Partners: Arcus Foundation, University of Minnesota, Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), Orangutan Veterinary Advisory Group (OVAG), Kenyan Wildlife Service.
Workshop 2
19 – 26 July, 2022. Orangutan Veterinary Advisory Group annual workshop.
Location: Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Indonesia
Partners: OVAG, Orangutan Conservancy, UGM, Chester Zoo and over 20 conservation NGO’s working with orangutans, gibbons and other wildlife of the region.
A team of young Indonesian and Malaysian vets will be joining the workshop in Kenya, with the aim of creating a global community of practice that can be disseminated regionally. Using a ‘train-the-trainer’ approach, subject matter experts will mentor participants to develop their own training capabilities, ensuring that global knowledge and insights are shared.
Steve said, “Our experiences over the last 15 years of listening to the wildlife community and providing a trusted networking service in Australia is continued here to link regional groups of wildlife experts into a global network and knowledge forum. Information and experience at the cutting edge of wildlife care and management are able to be accessed and utilised by global colleagues and partners.
“Being able to bring these different groups together has been enormously satisfying and successful for the betterment of wildlife globally.”