On May 21, 2008, the Woodrow Wilson Center (WWC) sponsored an event entitled "Human and Ecosystem Health." Following is an event description from the WWC:

"Human-animal interactions have important consequences for both human and animal health, as well as for the health of the environment we all share. These connections are increasingly relevant as climate change facilitates expansion of disease vectors and as population growth means humans and animals increasingly share the same habitat. One strategy for confronting these challenges, the “One Health” approach, focuses on catalyzing problem-solving in places where tensions and challenges at the interface between animal (wildlife and domestic) and human health are often greatest. Conflicts between livestock and natural resources, for example, must be dealt with to ensure peaceful coexistence between the domestic animals and wildlife upon which so many people’s livelihoods depend.

"If local people who depend on keeping livestock for their livelihoods view expanding contact with wildlife as a threat to the health of their animals, or even to their own health, it is difficult to build strong local constituencies for conservation, something the last several decades have taught us is necessary for sustained success. Addressing human health concerns in the context of conservation work should not, therefore, be seen as diminishing the importance of critical conservation issues, but rather as reinforcing the value of maintaining biodiversity and the importance of respecting wildlife and wild places. Done thoughtfully, linking human health with wildlife and environmental health can make conservation relevant to a much broader constituency.

"Steve Osofsky, Senior Policy Advisor, Wildlife Health at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Coordinator of the Animal Health for the Environment And Development (AHEAD) initiative, will discuss the field and policy work of the AHEAD initiative. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, the founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), Uganda, and Deana Clifford, an associate wildlife veterinarian at the Wildlife Health Center, University of California, Davis and the Project Coordinator for the Health for Animals and Livelihood Improvement (HALI) project in Tanzania, will share how they apply this foundation to the programs they manage, which address elements of human, animal, and environmental health."