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How can Indigenous knowledge systems be respectfully shared and employed to improve the implementation of impactful One Health actions at all levels?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2024

Robyn G. Alders*
Affiliation:
Development Policy Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Mariana M. Vale
Affiliation:
Ecology Department, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*
Corresponding author: Robyn G. Alders; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Type
Question
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

Western science introduced the term “One Health” to tackle issues associated with siloed scientific endeavours and extractive economic systems. However, Indigenous Peoples and many local communities have understood for thousands of years that human, animal and environmental health is inseparable from ecosystem health. To date, there have been few One Health initiatives that recognise, respect and work with Indigenous people to incorporate Indigenous knowledge systems (Mumford et al., Reference Mumford, Martinez, Tyance-Hassell, Cook, Hansen, Labonté, Mazet, Mumford, Rizzo, Togami, Vreedzaam and Parrish-Sprowl2023; Pollowitz et al., Reference Pollowitz, Allick, Campbell, Kamakahiolani Ellison, Perez-Aguilar, Vera, Ramirez, Nadal and Meisner2024). Additionally, operationalising One Health is proving challenging in many settings. Part of the problem is the Western approach of using English terms in non-English speaking settings and ignoring Indigenous knowledge systems. To achieve equitable and sustainable development, One Health must better understand, respect and, in collaboration with Indigenous communities, incorporate Indigenous perspectives, knowledges and practices.

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Competing interests

The authors declare none.

References

Mumford, EL, Martinez, DJ, Tyance-Hassell, K, Cook, A, Hansen, GR, Labonté, R, Mazet, JAK, Mumford, EC, Rizzo, DM, Togami, E, Vreedzaam, A and Parrish-Sprowl, J (2023) Evolution and expansion of the One Health approach to promote sustainable and resilient health and well-being: a call to action. Front Public Health 10, 1056459. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1056459.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pollowitz, M, Allick, C, Campbell, KB, Kamakahiolani Ellison, KL, Perez-Aguilar, G, Vera, M, Ramirez, V, Nadal, D and Meisner, J (2024) One Health, many perspectives: exploring Indigenous and Western epistemologies. CABI One Health 3(1), 110. https://doi.org/10.1079/cabionehealth.2024.0015.Google Scholar