Researchers widely agree that loss of biodiversity due to factors such as human interference with ecosystems contributes to the transmission of pathogens from animals to humans, which is known as a zoonosis. But how large is this effect? Quantifying this phenomenon is the goal of an international team of researchers headed by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The researchers hope their findings will contribute to identifying an elevated risk of emerging zoonoses early on. Their newly launched project, titled “Zoonosis Emergence across Degraded and Restored Forest Ecosystems” (ZOE), is receiving about four million euros in funding from the European Commission for a period of four years.