Identification of best practices for biodiversity recovery and public health interventions to prevent future epidemics and pandemics

Project Information

BEPREP

Grant agreement ID: 101060568

DOI

10.3030/101060568

EC signature date 9 June 2022

Start date 1 September 2022

End date 28 February 2027

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 5 886 004,75

EU contribution

€ 5 840 990,75

Coordinated by

HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Finland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - BEPREP (Identification of best practices for biodiversity recovery and public health interventions to prevent future epidemics and pandemics)

Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2025-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

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 fills 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 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 enables 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 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 hence accelerates the ecological transition required to meet EU's Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 as a core part of EU's Green Deal and supports a green recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the second project period much focus has been on been focusing on further establishing and continue running the activities in the Case Study Areas (CSAs; WP3, WP5), which are key to further work in WP4-8.
BEPREP has published two Newsletters and one Policy Brief. Outreach now also via the BEPREP LinkedIn account. Coordinator’s info letter as additional tool for internal communication.
Methodological development for projection and mapping of disease risk scenarios in the CSAs is complete. Related datasets are being analysed to prepare data pipelines and further validate methods.
A central part of BEPREP are our CSAs where we study the causal mechanisms of infection dynamics and of drivers along the infect-shed-spill-spread cascade with a BACI (before-after-control-impact) approach. The CSAs are located in Europe and the tropics and they comprise riparian forests, rural areas including terrestrial forests and urban areas. Using Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) to guarantee standardized sampling and sample handling, field sampling in all 13 CSAs has so far generated 5,500 rodent specimens, > 1,400 samples from bat specimens, > 60,000 mosquitoes, >3,000 ticks, > 600 water samples, and > 1,500 soil samples. The activities in the CSAs are done in close cooperation with local and regional stakeholders.
Development of One Health-based adaptive ecosystem restoration approach that implements key considerations to minimize zoonotic disease risk that otherwise might emerge from restorations.
The data extracted for the meta-analysis on the effect of ecosystem restoration on disease risk are the first of its kind compiled at a global scale (339 unique scientific studies that collectively contribute 201,726 individual records).
Pathogen testing based on CSA samples is ongoing with detection of multiple of BEPREP’s target pathogens in reservoirs, especially rodents, ectoparasites, water, and soil. Identified pathogens so far include Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, Orthohantavirus puumalaense, Bartonella spp., Bartonella grahamii, Leptospira spp., Neoehrlichia mikurensis, and Borrelia spp. in Clethrionomys glareolus, Cryptosporidium spp., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Francisella spp. in water, Klebsiella pneumoniae in Castor fiber, Bartonella spp., Bartonella grahamii, Bartonella elizabethae, Leptospira spp., Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Streptobacillus sp., Mycoplasma penetrans, Borrelia spp., and Ehrlichia sp. in Apodemus sylvaticus, Yersinia pestis in Rattus rattus, Leptospira spp. in multiple species in Malaysia, as well as West Nile virus lineage 2, Usutu virus and Falli virus in mosquitoes in Italy.
BEPREP has identified stakeholder engagement as a crucial success factor of ecosystem restoration already at the planning stage of restoration projects. As primary results, BEPREP can observe adherence to participation in the project by the residents, together with better circulation of information on health, diseases and environmental preservation. BEPREP has identified factors – such as knowing/liking the research team and simple things like providing snacks during the meetings – as factors that increase the chance of adhering to the project. Lack of participation was associated with disinterest and individualist views. BEPREP has also observed higher frequency of reservoir species in control areas.
Driver modelling on human hantavirus infection, TBE, and leptospirosis, and mosquito-borne disease risk in relation to degrees of disturbance of tropical and subtropical costal-habitats such as mangrove. One paper published on environmental driven northward expansion pace of mosquito-borne diseases in Europe.
Development of BEPREP Data Sharing and Publication Ethics.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

BEPREP has developed a series of principles, guidelines and agreements that can work as a show case for HE projects regarding work on animal and human ethics, including BEPREP’s 10 Ethics Principles and BEPREP Principles and Guidelines for Publication, Data and Benefit Sharing Ethics.

Developed adaptive process for One Health strategies to avoid zoonotic disease risk during ecosystem restoration.

Use of non-invasive remote sensing methods in CSAs to quantify biodiversity.

Study approach of BEPREP