COVID-19 has infected millions of people all over the world, challenging public health systems and negatively impacting economic growth. The global health crisis and economic recession will have long-term socio-economic consequences around the world. We need to learn from this pandemic, to better understand the root causes of zoonotic diseases, pre-vent future outbreaks and support a green recovery to “build back better”. Given the scale of direct and indirect costs caused by such emerging zoonotic diseases, both health, safety and sustainable de-
velopment solutions are needed.The SARS-COV-2 pandemic has once again highlighted our close relationship with nature, as well as is-sues related to the use of wildlife for food. Wild meat is an important and traditional source of protein, fat and micronutrients for millions of Indigenous Peoples and rural communities, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. However, around 70 percent of emerging infectious diseases and almost all recent epidemics originate from animals, in particular wildlife. Furthermore, the trade in wildlife, espe-cially in large urban areas, is increasing the risk of zoonotic disease transmission.

Measures to immediately restrict or ban (e.g. hunting, use or trade of wildlife products) could have serious adverse impacts on families with no other option but to eat wild meat. However, failing to take into consideration the increasing risk of zoonotic spillover may lead to more frequent pandemics in the future. This complex situation calls for a sound risk assessment and for appropriate measures adapted to each country. These must be combined with global measures and coordinated efforts to efficiently address the question of why infectious diseases are emerging and re-emerging. At the same time, we must improve how we prepare for, and respond to future zoonotic disease outbreaks. The white paper you have in your hands presents an invaluable and timely overview of state-of-the-art current knowledge on the transmission of wildlife-borne diseases to humans. It also provides concrete recommendations on how to prevent and respond to future zoonotic events based on the views and experiences of experts in various disciplines from the organisations involved in the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme. This Programme, a seven-year initiative from the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), funded by the European Union, is playing an important role in tackling these complex and interrelated issues.

This white paper aims to provide Northern and Southern Development partners and decision- makers with a better understanding of: a) why spillover of disease from wildlife to humans occurs, and why these zoonotic disease out-breaks can spread and become epidemics and pandemics such as COVID-19; b) what they can do to prevent, detect and respond to future spillover events, with a special focus on priority interventions at the human–wildlife–livestock interfaces. It has been produced as part of the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme, which will deliver critical lessons on how to prevent, detect and respond to future spillover events with appropri-ate national and transboundary policies and practices in the context of the SWM partner sites.