University of Helsinki - Finland

(HEU Horizon Europe) Preventing pandemics with biodiversity recovery. 
How important is nature restoration targeting biodiversity recovery? Can it also help prevent future disease (zoonotic and vector-borne) outbreaks? Despite the thousands of ongoing and planned nature restoration projects globally, little is known about whether these restorations indeed interrupt the infect-shed-spill-spread cascade and mitigate disease risk. In this context, the EU-funded BEPREP project will find answers and provide practical information. Taking a participatory approach, BEPREP will involve indigenous and local communities in the identification of success factors of best practice restorations and interventions. The aim is to assist the infect-shed-spill-spread cascade and prevent disease outbreaks. BEPREP’s findings will contribute to shaping a Europe that is prepared to respond to disease risk.

Epidemics and pandemics - most of them caused by zoonotic and vector-borne emerging diseases - are globally threatening our health and welfare at an alarming pace. Prevention of future disease outbreaks will be pivotal to secure human welfare and demands transformative change. ""Biodiversity-is-good-for-our-health"" has become a new paradigm in disease risk mitigation. Consequently, nature restoration targeting biodiversity recovery - isolated or in combination with public health interventions - has been identified as a major disease risk mitigation tool.

While there are thousands of ongoing and planned nature restoration projects globally, we lack knowledge a) if such restorations indeed interrupt the infect-shed-spill-spread cascade and mitigate disease risk, b) or if they rather amplify the risk and c) on success factors characterizing restorations that mitigate disease risk.

BEPREP will fill this lack in knowledge and provide practical guidance. In spatially and temporally replicated field studies and experiments in case studies in Europe and the tropics, we will study a)-c) and reveal the causal mechanisms of infection dynamics and of drivers along the infect-shed-spill-spread cascade. BEPREP's participatory and transsectorial approach by actively involving indigenous and local communities will enable the identification of success factors of best practice restorations and interventions, incl. nature-based solutions, to guide future biodiversity recovery measures that promote healthy ecosystems.
These success factors will contribute to a) interrupt the infect-shed-spill-spread cascade and b) ultimately prevent disease outbreaks. The results of BEPREP help to create a European society prepared and responsive to disease risk. BEPREP will hence accelerate the ecological transition required to meet EU's Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 as a core part of EU's Green Deal and support a green recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.