Preventing Pandemics at the Source began to take shape in January of 2020 - just as COVID-19 was beginning to spread across the world. The origins of our work, however, go back much further. 

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Having previously worked to help build the field of planetary health, Dalberg Catalyst leadership knew well before COVID-19 hit that a zoonotic pandemic was likely to occur sooner rather than later. As the disease began making headlines, the team jumped into action - designing a plan for how the global community could attack this problem and vetting it with over 70 experts and organizations (including scientists, policymakers, campaigners, and more) in the process. 

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In the summer of 2020, the Catalyst team - led by CEO Sonila Cook and in partnership with former Rainforest Alliance President and current Preventing Pandemics at the Source Advisor Nigel Sizer - convened a group of prominent conservation and global health leaders to start a formal conversation on how the global community could prevent pandemics at the source. This convening served as the unofficial launchpad for the initiative’s Coalition - a collection of leading conservation, health, and COVID-survivor organizations that are working together to ensure that spillover prevention measures are included as part of a comprehensive plan to prevent future pandemics.

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Since then, Preventing Pandemics at the Source has supported scientific research to prove the link between the destruction of nature and increased pandemic risk; influenced pandemic-related policies in the U.S. and across the world; promoted a suite of nature-based solutions for stopping spillover; and brought pandemic prevention at the source into the mainstream media. And we’re just getting started.

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Together, we can address the root causes of zoonotic pandemics.

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We can save lives, promote equity, protect nature, and preserve the climate - all at once.

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We can stop pandemics before they start.