Amanda Fine (WCS) with WOAH staff Sara Linanne and Mariana Delgado, who serve as the Secretariat for the WOAH Biological Standards Commission (BSC). The WOAH BSC reviews collaborating centre applications along with the WOAH Council. The designation of WCS as a WOAH Collaborating Centre was ratified by the WOAH Delegates, representing the 183 Member countries, by resolution on Thursday, May 29, 2025, during the WOAH General Session. (Photo taken in the exhibit area at the WOAH General Session)

Bronx, NY, June 17, 2025 -- The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has been formally designated by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) as a Collaborating Centre in the focus area of Wildlife Health and Biodiversity, recognizing WCS’s global leadership in science, One Health, transboundary disease surveillance, and biodiversity conservation. WCS is the only conservation organization to receive this designation. 

The World Assembly of Delegates of WOAH confirmed the addition of WCS to the WOAH Collaborating Centre Consortium for Research, Diagnosis and Surveillance of Wildlife Pathogens, hosted by the USGS National Wildlife Health Center and the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, at the 92nd WOAH General Session in Paris on May 27, 2025. 

“We are honored by WOAH’s recognition of WCS as a Collaborating Centre,” said Dr. Amanda Fine, Director of One Health at WCS. “This designation enables us to contribute more effectively to the efforts of the 183 WOAH Member Countries and partners worldwide to build resilient, locally grounded systems that protect the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems. The WCS Collaborating Centre promotes the integration of biodiversity and health which is increasingly recognized as central to preventing pandemics, sustaining ecosystem resilience, and securing long-term health for all.” 

Said Dr. Christian Walzer, WCS Executive Director of Health: “WCS brings field-based transdisciplinary implementation and research experience, global partnerships, and innovative technologies that complement and extend the impact of existing WOAH Collaborating Centres. This collaboration allows us to collectively advance science-based solutions to global health threats emerging at wildlife-livestock-human interfaces.” 

WCS operates the largest health program of any international wildlife conservation organization, with health-specific initiatives active in over 20 countries. As a Collaborating Centre, WCS looks forward to engaging closely with WOAH and its network of 13 Regional and Sub-Regional Representations across five global regions in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East, to support the development of long-term, locally led wildlife health surveillance systems that monitor diseases and other health indicators in wildlife to guide management decisions and protect public, animal, and ecosystem health.  

Over the next five years, the WCS Collaborating Centre will work with WOAH and its Member Countries to strengthen wildlife health surveillance networks from the local to national level. This effort will focus on building cross-sectoral capacity, improving data systems, and aligning policies with field implementation and local needs. By enhancing surveillance and response systems at the wildlife–livestock–human interface, the WCS Collaborating Centre will contribute to global efforts to reduce opportunities for pathogen emergence, support early detection and pandemic prevention, and advance ecological integrity. 

In alignment with WOAH’s Wildlife Health Framework, WCS will support Member Countries in strengthening surveillance capacity implementing key WOAH guidelines, including the 2024 Guidelines for Addressing Disease Risks in Wildlife Trade and the General Guidelines for Surveillance of Diseases, Pathogens and Toxic Agents in Free-ranging Wildlife. As the lead of the Wildlife Health Intelligence Network (WHIN)—a global community of practice advancing standardized methods and technologies for wildlife health data—WCS fosters collaborative action among national focal points and international health agencies.  

Through this designation as a Collaborating Centre, WCS will help integrate wildlife health intelligence into national and global health systems, directly contributing to the FAO/UNEP/WHO/WOAH One Health Joint Plan of Action and advancing WHO’s 7-1-7 framework for detection and response.  

###