CMS Family input for the scoping process of the Nexus Assessment HEALTH

Following IPBES Notification EM/2019/17 on Opportunity to provide early input to the scoping process of the IPBES nexus and transformative change assessments: Online conferences and the resulting second session of the online conference held on 1 October 2019, the CMS Family would like to provide the following inputs: 

• According to the topic of priority a) of the Rolling Programme up to 2030 as approved by IPBES Plenary-7, the Nexus Assessment should focus on addressing the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health and between biodiversity and climate change, with a view to informing the development of policies and actions. The Nexus assessment should also consider the role of connectivity in ensuring integrity and resilience in socioecological systems.
• In relation to the interlinkages between health and biodiversity the Nexus assessment could pay attention to:

• migratory species of wild animals as a component of biodiversity.

• factors threatening the health status of wild animals which, in turn, may affect the health of humans or other species in the food chain. Examples of such factors are all those that cause poisoning and intoxication of wild animals, such as lead in ammunition and fishing weights, pesticides in agriculture and those illegally used as poison baits, drugs, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other chemicals.

• Assessing the role of migratory species of wild animals in facilitating the spread and transmission of pathogensamong geographical areas, including urban areas. Migratory species represent the contact between wild and domestic animals with possible risks of transmission of pathogens in both directions. Attention should therefore be given to the interactions between them.         

• Assessing the availability of data on animal migration, which could possibly be associated to the spread of diseases, and the need for further research.

• In the context of environmental changes including climate change, monitoring consequent changes in animal migration systems can help understand the possible risks of pathogens carried in unusual geographical areas and with unknown modalities.

• The conservation status and presence of selected key migratory species could be used as an indicator to evaluate the status of health and quality of specific ecosystems and habitats.