What is Conservation Medicine?
Conservation Medicine is an emerging field that focuses on the intersection of the environment, human and non-human hosts, and pathogens. At its core, conservation medicine champions the integration of techniques and partnering of scientists from diverse disciplines.
The Problem
Conservation Medicine evolved out of a crisis: unprecedented levels of disease and ill health in many species, driven by increasing burden of anthropogenic environmental change. We now have proof that diseases can deplete biodiversity locally, by leading to the removal of whole populations (e.g. rainforest amphibians and African wild dogs) and globally by causing extinctions (e.g. Polynesian tree snails and Australian amphibians). The consequences can be equally disastrous to humans (e.g. HIV and the Nipah virus outbreak).
Climate change, chemical pollution, global trade, domestic animals, encroachment into wilderness areas, and the overuse of antibiotics are some of the primary mechanisms through which humans are rapidly transforming host-parasite ecology worldwide.
The Solution
The environmental causes of health problems are complex, global, and poorly understood. Conservation Medicine practitioners form multidisciplinary teams to tackle these issues. They can include microbiologists, pathologists, landscape analysts, marine biologists, toxicologists, epidemiologists, climate biologists, anthropologists, economists, and political scientists. These experts work with educators, policy makers, and conservation program managers to devise approaches that improve species' health.