Financing support for multi-sector surveillance of zoonotic diseases in wildlife and along wildlife trade chains is essential to improve understanding of pathogen diversity, disease dynamics and potential risks posed by wildlife trade, to support evidence-based decision making, monitor emerging pathogens and support targeted future surveillance and mitigation investments

Building long-term partnerships and capacity for multi-sector surveillance of zoonotic diseases along wildlife trade chains promotes and supports effective One Health collaboration from the spillover frontlines to national and international policy makers, and improved understanding of pathogen diversity, disease dynamics and potential risks posed by wildlife trade. Platforms for regular multi-sector discussion between animal health, environment, enforcement, and human health sectors, as well as with and amongst international and multi-lateral partners, is essential for open discourse and sharing of information on the risks, challenges and opportunities for pandemic prevention. This is critical to improve cross- sectoral trust, understanding, communication and coordination to increase opportunities for effective legislative change and cultural shifts.

The project follows a co-management approach from the outset - partner communities and local authorities have been consulted prior to planning and implementation. They have been actively involved in all steps of the project implementation, received training and were compensated for their efforts (planting). Examples include the integration of their local knowledge about the selected species and the benefits such as NTFPs.

In Abu Dhabi, Breathable Sand technology has helped with the growing of peanuts, mung beans, and black-eyed peas on some farms, while mango and lemon orchids have also shown fruitful results in 18 months.

Most vegetables in Abu Dhabi are imported and/or shipped from nearby cities such as Dubai. Famers now can grow local vegetables and fruits to serve the local families.  The quality of the product is also good, and the water usage is only 20% of what typical needs because uncontrolled infiltration is greatly reduced thanks to the Breathable Sand.

The current farm includes 500-square-meter arable land to plant vegetables and fruits, and 100,000 square meters of land in Ras Al Khaimah is being prepared for additional applications.

A temple tree, jasmine, a coconut tree, roses, and six varieties of hibiscus, are in full bloom in a home garden in Dubai, which don’t grow in the desert environment normally.  Thanks to the "Breathable Sand" technology, water is saved and also plants grow healther.

Goumbook and JA Hotels & Resorts have planted a total of 20 Ghaf saplings in Dubai’s resort, backing the ‘Give a Ghaf’ campaign to conserve the threatened indigenous plant.  Local hotel managers and employees planted trees using the new "Breathable Sand" technology to reduce irrigation water usage.

Dwight School is a leading international school with campuses on three continents. In 2021, the Dubai campus has successfully used the water-wise and sustainable ‘Breathable Sand’ solution offered in water conservation and desert farming, as part of a tree planting drive on its campus.

This site also is used for education and demonstration purposes. 

El fortalecimiento de lazos de confianza entre las comunidades manejadoras de vicuñas y el área protegida (trabajamos en conjunto hace 17 años), y con la Asociación Nacional de Manejadores de Vicuñas (trabajamos en conjunto hace 3 años), es crítico para fortalecer la conservación de la vicuña y de su hábitat. Esto ha permitido realizar monitoreos sobre el crecimiento poblacional y la sanidad de las vicuñas; realizar vigilancia de contaminantes y su impacto en la especie; desarrollar capacidades en bienestar animal, bioseguridad; obtener fibra de mayor calidad; e iniciar, recientemente, una línea base sobre la depredación de vicuñas y ganado por perros pastores, así como el estado de salud y de bienestar de los perros.

The image recognition component, based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) in the framework of the Tech4Nature Mexico pilot, plays a fundamental role by: i) Automatically detecting the presence of jaguars in camera trap captures, thus speeding up data processing; and ii) Automatically identifying individual jaguars in the region, which enhances the understanding of local populations. This approach is of vital importance in conservation by taking advantage of advanced methods that allow a faster and more detailed analysis.

The local team strategically placed 15 camera traps and 30 eco-acoustic monitoring devices (audiomoths) within the mangrove and lowland rainforest habitats where jaguars have been previously sighted. This deployment effectively captured the region's biodiversity and generated valuable data for subsequent analysis.