The Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment and the Belgian Biodiversity Platform co-organised a two-day
One World One Health Conference on 3-4 December 2019 on the impacts of wildlife trade at global and local level

               

The objectives of the conference were to provide scientific information on the impacts of the bushmeat trade and the trade in exotic reptiles and amphibians; and to discuss recommendations for further actions at Belgian and European level in a view of reaching a more sustainable trade of wildlife.

Given the broad scale of the issue, the conference focused on two specific trades occuring in Belgium: the bushmeat trade (3 Dec. 2019) and the trade in exotic reptiles and in amphibians (4 Dec. 2019) (see the programme of the conference). The participants represented a wide variety of stakeholders: researchers; international and European institutions; policy-makers; law-makers; control borders officials; non-governmental organisations (NGOs); hobbyists; federation of veterinarians; and businesses.

Keynote presentations allowed for the participants to gather knowledge about both topics from different perspectives, while working group discussions allowed for the development of key recommendations on bushmeat trade and on the trade in exotic reptiles and amphibians. The Belgian Biodiversity Platform will develop a brief based on the key elements discussed during the conference. This document will be made available in 2020 on this web page.

During the conference, two videos were produced: one on bushmeat trade, and one on the trade in exotic reptiles and amphibians.

Furthermore, several background documents prepared by the SPF Health Food Chain Safety and Environment on both topics are available onlline.

The conference was organised by the Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment and the Belgian Biodiversity Platform.