Centre for Wildlife Forensics

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Collaborating Centre (CC) for Wildlife Trade and Wildlife Health, hosted by the CWF under NParks, specialises in promoting safe and sustainable wildlife trade while protecting biodiversity and wildlife health in the Asia-Pacific region.

As the world’s first CC on Wildlife Trade and Wildlife Health, the Centre focuses on managing threats to wildlife health such as illegal wildlife trade and transboundary disease risks, especially through forensics capabilities. The Centre champions a One Health approach to wildlife trade regulation, biodiversity conservation, and the management of human–wildlife–ecosystem interfaces. Its work encompasses wildlife forensics, biosurveillance, capacity building in regulatory frameworks, and research on species identification and provenance as well as advanced pathogen detection and genomic analyses in diseases of high-risk wildlife species involved in both legal and illegal trade. 

The Centre’s specialties include: 

Wildlife trade regulation and forensics 

• Application of wildlife forensics capabilities for combatting illegal wildlife trade. 

• Capacity building for implementation of biosecurity and sanitary regulations. 

• Development of harmonised guidelines for wildlife trade. 

• Outreach and building multi-stakeholder networks in wildlife trade regulation with respect to disease and conservation. 

A scientific approach to safeguarding regional wildlife health, biodiversity and conservation 

• Development of expertise in regional cross-border disease risks, biosurveillance, response and mitigation. 

• Capacity building in biodiversity, wildlife management and conservation frameworks within an urban context. 

• Using Singapore’s existing One Health governance and collaboration framework to engage the regional One Health network on wildlife health and biodiversity conservation efforts. 

The CC for Wildlife Trade and Wildlife Health is expected to serve as a regional centre of excellence for wildlife health that advances WOAH’s strategic objectives in the Asia-Pacific region. Through its multi-disciplinary expertise and networks, the Centre will drive initiatives in three key areas: 

1. Promoting sustainable and legal wildlife trade with robust health safeguards. 

2. Enhancing regional wildlife health and biodiversity conservation through scientific research and capability building. 

3. Strengthening regional partnerships for collaborative protection of wildlife health. 

CWF has established an International Panel of Advisors who will guide and provide strategic advice to NParks to develop capabilities and research areas that are in line with international standards.  

The members of the Panel are: 

• Dr Lee Fook Kay, Chief Scientist, Ministry of Home Affairs Singapore 

• Dr Peter E Gasson, Research Leader, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 

• Dr Ed Espinoza, Laboratory Deputy Director, US Fish and Wildlife Services Forensics Laboratory 

• Dr Samuel K Wasser, Research Professor, Department of Biology and Director of the Center for Conservation Biology, University of Washington