The most important questions and answers at a glance.
The International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade (Alliance) is an inclusive and interdisciplinary platform launched in 2021. It receives core funding by the German Government and the Alliance Secretariat is set up and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
Based on the analysis that ecological disruption, including deforestation, shifts in land uses, and unsustainable consumption of wildlife, enable pathogens to spillover, the Alliance offers stakeholders the collaborative space to join forces to better understand and reduce the threat of pathogen spillover from wildlife trade and markets, providing and communicating evidence, supporting interventions, thereby, reducing the risk of future spillover, outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics, while concurrently improving health, equity, and well-being for all species through a One Health approach.
The Alliance is organized in Plenary, Steering Committee and Secretariat.
The main body of the Alliance is the Plenary and is composed of all registered members of the Alliance. The Plenary elects a Steering Committee every three years, which formulates the strategic plan for the Alliance and sets targets for further development and orientation. The Secretariat facilitates the smooth operation of the Alliance and its progress towards the Alliance’s goals. It supports the Steering Committee in its work and serves as the Alliance central point of contact. For more information on the processes and organization of the Alliance, please have a look at our Operational Manual.
The Alliance’s goals are
- “Substantially reducing the risks of zoonotic spillover and stepping up responses (including behavioral changes) to human and animal health risks caused by direct and indirect contact with wildlife and their products along the wildlife trade chain.”
- “Enhancing international and national awareness, knowledge and policies with regard to goal 1, thus narrowing the gap between science and implementation.”
- The Alliance brings together various actors and thereby bridges diverse disciplines as well as science and policy in the field of One Health to improve wildlife trade regulations and promote behavioral changes. Solutions must be context-specific and culture sensitive and require interdisciplinary knowledge exchange, well-coordinated inclusive planning and co-creation.
- The Alliance addresses the overlap of the dual crises of biodiversity loss and pandemic and, there, has a specific focus on human-wildlife contact, the whole wildlife trade spectrum (extraction, consumption, processing, sale, trade) and associated health risks, including pandemic prevention at the source.
- The Alliance offers a venue for non-politicized exchange, networking and matchmaking among scientists, experts and actors in the field of One Health with a focus on wildlife.
- The Alliance respects cultural identity, traditional knowledge and safe subsistence use of wildlife.
- The Alliance serves its members as an incubator space for innovation and co-creation.
The Alliance provides to its members:
- Access to expert knowledge and discussion on latest research and developments.
- Knowledge brokerage and insights to empower evidence-based actions that are socially just, sustainable and effective.
- Collaboration based on members’ profiles and needs.
- Facilitate individual working groups according to members’ interests to further explore topics, elaborate insights and offer guidance.
- If requested, guidance to interested authorities towards improved policy implementation.
You can register with your institution or as an individual member here.
Becoming a member is voluntary, free of charge and is done by
- consenting to the Alliance’s Charter with its vision, mission, and goals, and its Operational Manual
- proving, when available, the Secretariat the new member’s institutional logo for presentation purposes on the Alliance’s website
Once an interested institution or individual has provided the required information and consented to the Charter and Operational Manual, the membership becomes valid. Within four weeks after registration, objections regarding the new member can be made from the Plenary to the Steering Committee, which will make a final decision after a review.
The membership is free of charge. We do appreciate your time and energy to help move the Alliance forward.
To become a member of the Alliance you have to register to the Alliance website. After the review period of your application, you will get access to the Alliance members Area to network with gloabl experts. Watch the following onboarding video for more information.
It is possible to join as an individual member independent of an organization.
The Alliance finances a small number of projects contributing to the goals of the Alliance. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date about upcoming opportunities.
You can subscribe to our newsletter and stay informed about the Alliance’s work.