As a UN report warns that global biodiversity action is off track, the guide provides practical options for governments to leverage animal welfare for nature and people
At COP17 in Armenia, a new tool has been launched to guide policymakers in using animal welfare as a vehicle to implement the Global Action Plan (GAP) on Biodiversity and Health. The Animals for Biodiversity and Health guide and accompanying website provide practical policy options, backed by examples illustrating how improving the way we protect and care for animals and their habitats can naturally meet the plan’s goals.
The newly released State of Biodiversity Action report has found that the world is way off track to meet the goal to protect 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030. Biodiversity loss, climate change, zoonotic disease emergence, and antimicrobial resistance share many common drivers, and animals sit at the centre of them. How wild animals are captured, traded, farmed and conserved, and how farmed animals are reared shapes the risk of pathogen spillover, the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and pressure on ecosystems. The risks are growing: H5N1 avian flu is now present across all continents, and forecasts show that an estimated 1.91 million deaths attributable to AMR and 8.22 million deaths associated with AMR could occur globally in 2050.
The guide helps close that gap. It turns the recommendations from the Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health on wildlife protection, climate change, and farmed animal welfare into options governments can adapt to their national circumstances. Examples include::
- On wildlife protection: Prohibiting or strictly regulating high-risk and inhumane capture, transport and trade practices.
- On biodiversity and climate: Protecting and enhancing urban tree canopy for wild animal welfare and establishing wildlife corridors.
- In farmed animal welfare: Phasing out high-risk confinement systems and conserving locally adapted, genetically diverse livestock breeds.
Some countries and cities are already putting these recommendations into practice. For example:
- Medellin, Colombia, which in the last decade has built 30 green corridors along roads and streams, lowering average urban temperatures by about 2℃, and seeing a return of birds, lizards, frogs, and bats that had been absent for years
- Belgium, which established a ‘positive list for mammals’ in 2009, listing which species can be allowed as pets, reducing the exotic pet trade and its related risks.
- Brazil, where its IBAMA’s wildlife triage and rehabilitation centres (CETAS) received more than 54,000 wild animals in 2023 for veterinary care, and where possible, release.
- Bangladesh and Cameroon, whose One Health frameworks recognise animal welfare.
- Germany, whose recently adopted national dietary guidelines define sustainable nutrition across health, environment, social aspects and animal welfare.
The Animals for Biodiversity and Health guidance was launched at a press conference at the UN Biodiversity Conference of the Convention on Biological Diversity, at its 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, known as COP17, in Armenia on 21 October. Representatives from the Government of France, the World Organisation for Animal Health, the World Federation for Animals and Born Free Foundation shared why the guidance is important, and how it can be applied.
Jewel Omollo, Environment Policy Officer at the World Federation for Animals, comments: “Animal health and welfare is inherently connected to biodiversity and the health of people and our planet. As policymakers look to respond to the Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health, we see animal health and welfare as a key conduit for meeting its objectives. The protection of habitats, promotion of more sustainable use and management of wildlife, and developing food systems which are more aligned with nature; improved animal welfare underpins all of this. This guide has been created to support policymakers in applying the points of the GAP into clear, practical action.”
Adeline Lerambert, International Policy Manager at Born Free Foundation, adds: “We cannot truly safeguard human health without taking animal health and welfare seriously, just as we cannot protect species without protecting the individual animals that make them up. Animal welfare is a powerful but often overlooked tool for conserving biodiversity and preventing disease. This guidance gives governments a practical roadmap for putting animal welfare at the heart of policy and delivering better outcomes for wildlife, ecosystems and people.”
The guidance can be viewed here.
-Ends-
For further information or interview requests, please contact Victoria Evans: victoria.evans@wfa.org / +44 (0) 7766 244 322.
Notes to Editors
- The World Federation for Animals is a not-for-profit global federation comprising over 70 animal welfare organisations. Established in 2020, it works to embed animal welfare into sustainable development worldwide. A UN-accredited organisation, it works towards the recognition and integration of animal welfare into international health, food, and environmental regimes and trade and development finance rules. www.wfa.org
- The guidance was developed by WFA members, including Eurogroup for Animals, Animal Protection Denmark, and World Animal Protection, in close collaboration with the Born Free Foundation, and with valuable contributions from the World Organisation for Animal Health, the Sustainable Use Transformative Partnership Platform hosted by the Landscape Alliance (CIFOR-ICRAF), the University College London (Department of Geography), and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) of Brazil, and offers practical guidance on how countries can leverage animal welfare to advance biodiversity and health strategies.
- The Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health was adopted at the 2024 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16). Built on the One Health approach, the GAP lays out a framework for national action addressing the interconnections between biodiversity, animal health and welfare, and human health and wellbeing. It provides general and specific recommendations related to the various Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) Targets. In doing so, it contributes synergistically to multiple global commitments as well, including the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, the CBD’s Global Biodiversity Framework, and is consistent with the prevention and One Health objectives of the WHO Pandemic Agreement.
- The press conference can be watched back here.
Photo gallery
Press conference room photos, from left to right: Jewel Omollo, Environmental Policy Officer, World Federation for Animals; Mr Raphael Jozan, Agriculture Affairs Counsellor, representing the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, France; Adeline Lerambert, International Policy Advisor, Born Free Foundation; Dr Chadia Wanous, Head of the One Health & Global Frameworks Department, World Organisation for Animal Health.
External photo, from left to right: Adeline Lerambert, International Policy Advisor, Born Free Foundation; Dr Chadia Wanous, Head of the One Health & Global Frameworks Department, World Organisation for Animal Health; Jewel Omollo, Environmental Policy Officer, World Federation for Animals; Francheska Tacke, Animal Protection Denmark; Mr Raphael Jozan, Agriculture Affairs Counsellor, representing the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, France.
