Stronger together: Safeguarding people, animals and the environment

In New Zealand, biosecurity is widely recognised, with strong measures in place to protect the primary sector from invasive species that threaten the nation’s economy. What is less well recognised, however, is the connection between these invasions and their impact on the health and wellbeing of people and animals.

That is why the internationally recognised One Health framework needs to broaden its focus to include stronger protections against biological invasions - from non-native weeds and animals to harmful pathogens - to better safeguard communities and ecosystems.

Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University’s Distinguished Professor Philip Hulme is the lead author of the article One Biosecurity is essential to implement One Health published in BioScience. As Director of Lincoln University’s Centre for One Biosecurity Research, Analysis and Synthesis (COBRAS), he formulated the One Biosecurity framework. In the article, the authors propose One Biosecurity could be readily integrated with One Health to provide a holistic framework that accounts for invasive weeds, animals and pathogens' wide-ranging impact on animal, plant and environmental health. 

“There is a growing global recognition that One Health’s holistic approach is not only necessary but increasingly urgent, particularly as diseases transmitted from animals to humans become more prevalent—avian influenza being a key example.

“Currently, One Health underrepresents the natural environment. By integrating it with One Biosecurity, we can strengthen its interdisciplinary reach. Many of the threats we face originate overseas, but here in New Zealand, our well-established biosecurity systems are well placed to support public health and other aspects of One Health,” says Distinguished Professor Hulme.

The strength of One Biosecurity lies in its comprehensive approach, which incorporates pre-border, border, and post-border systems. One Health could leverage existing biosecurity regulations at global and national levels to effectively respond to the risk of non-native species introduction or disease outbreak. 

“This type of coordinated response is really important. Many people may not realise how closely linked the wellbeing of animals, plants and the environment is. Take a crop grown as food for us. If a pest insect or disease depletes this crop, it impacts the farmer and threatens local food security and public wellbeing. This example has sadly happened in parts of the world, with malnutrition a severe consequence. With food security a major issue worldwide, it’s vital to acknowledge this connection and ensure we have systems in place to help prevent such bioinvasions from occurring,” says Distinguished Professor Hulme. 

One Biosecurity is gaining traction as a comprehensive and interdisciplinary way of managing invasive species, being cited as a positive step forward by the United Nations (UN) through the Intergovernmental Policy Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). To gain even greater traction, says Distinguished Professor Hulme, One Biosecurity needs to be adopted by multilateral organisations such as the World Health Organisation, the UN Development Programme and the World Organisation for Animal Health. 

“Recognition of One Biosecurity by multilateral organisations will help support its integration with One Health. Together, they would foster greater collaboration and coordination of strategies and systems to tackle the challenges and threats facing people, animals, and the environment.

“Lincoln University aims to lead biosecurity innovation within the scientific community. One Biosecurity shows industry and government that a comprehensive framework can be implemented effectively. Positive change, in the way we’re proposing, will have the greatest impact when scientists drive interdisciplinary collaboration and share knowledge at the grassroots level,” says Distinguished Professor Hulme.

A coordinated response is both logical and financially sensible. In New Zealand, says Distinguished Professor Hulme, it would also bring together existing fragmented biosecurity responses, spread across differing organisations. 

“Health organisations and the primary sector think they’re dealing with differing threats and challenges, but they are often identical and managed similarly. This level of crossover makes blending One Biosecurity with One Health much easier. It allows for stakeholders to get a greater understanding of the bigger picture, not just the silo they’ve previously been working in.”

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