A social-ecological and one health observatory: Ten years of collaborative studies in Saen Thong (Nan, Thailand)

Abstract

One Health and biodiversity collaborative project have been implemented among researchers from several institutions of France and Thailand and local communities, local authorities and administrations in the Saen Thong sub-district (Nan Province, Thailand). Saen Thong's experience recognizes the role of the primary care unit (PCU) as a boundary spinner between scientists, communities and other administrations, in particular the animal health sector. Ethical procedures were important to promote the integration of research activities into the human and animal health concerns of people. Each project should be co-designed starting from the vision and the implementation to the realization with ethics at the core of the community engagement. The commitment to the environment and biodiversity conservation sector was another lesson learned. Saen Thong as a social-ecological One Health and biodiversity observatory can be a platform for ecosystem-based solutions at the interface between human health, animal health and ecosystem health.