The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the world to a screeching halt like never before. Truly catastrophic in its magnitude, reach, and repercussions, the crisis has exposed the delicate balance between humans and wildlife and has forced people to rethink their interactions with the nature around them. While severe restrictions on trade and travel have temporarily allowed nature to thrive in some regions, reduced human presence is also putting life-threatening stress on the world’s protected areas, home to invaluable wildlife and wildlands.
Pandemic-induced lockdowns meant the stoppage of ecotourism virtually overnight, which took with it all the money that national and regional parks and surrounding communities depended on. “It was like a tap turned off,” Kim Young-Overton, director of Panthera’s Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area told Quartz Africa. The lack of monetary support has compromised efforts to engage in conservation activities—such as surveillance of protected areas, treatments of diseases of wild plants and animals, and eradication of invasive alien species—due to the inability to pay staff salaries. Additionally, the absence of foreign visitors has also reduced the visibility of the protected areas, leaving them open for exploitation by poachers, hunters, miners, and loggers. Furthermore, the economic hardship brought on by the pandemic has forced local communities to turn to conservation zones to fulfill their basic needs, from food to fuelwood.
And the effects have been staggering. In Zambia for example, at Kafue National Park, located in the heart of the country, rangers discovered 135 traps from boundary areas around core protection zones between May and August 2020, 110 more than the 25 discovered the previous year over the same time period. The amount of bushmeat seized has skyrocketed from approximately 100 pounds in 2019 to more than 3,300 in 2020. In fact, in Tanzania, the government has begun allowing the sale of bushmeat under strict regulations; on the surface, this is to curb illegal hunting, but its impact on wildlife has been detrimental nonetheless.
At the same time, centuries-old coral reefs in the Caribbean have been irreversibly damaged from the lack of treatment against fungal diseases, and invasive species such as rats are destroying native species and habitats on island nations like New Zealand in the absence of eradication efforts. Elsewhere, like in Nepal, illegal resource extraction has ramped up, with the country recording more incidents in the first month of lockdown (514) than in the entire previous year (483). In South America, the destruction of the Amazonian rainforest rose by 55% in the first four months of 2020 (compared to the same period in 2019), with mining activities expanding significantly in several countries, especially Suriname, Guyana, Peru, and Bolivia.
The escalation of such activities is not only further endangering certain species and leading to the degradation of habitats, but also giving rise to closer contact between humans and wildlife, which could increase the risk of future outbreaks of zoonotic diseases like Covid-19. So, what can be done to reduce the risk of both environmental degradation and disease, and improve conservation efforts?
Well, it’s complicated. Research has shown that economic normalcy in the aftermath of a crisis tends to take precedence over environmental health, and given that humans respond more strongly to urgent situations rather than gradually increasing risks, a lot is dependent on political will. While it is undeniable that the diversification of the world’s conservation funding streams (i.e. moving away from just ecotourism) is a crucial measure that will protect against such future shocks, strengthening biodiversity protection and conservation will require earnest buy-in from the local and international communities, including policymakers, philanthropists, business leaders, and the general public to make such efforts truly sustainable.
Experts have suggested that governments lacking adequate conservation capacities explore the viability of public-private partnerships as a tool to protect wildlife and habitats, promote regional security, and provide economic opportunities for local communities. For example, African Parks, a South-African based non-profit group, has taken direct responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of protected areas in partnership with governments and local populations, across 12 countries on the continent. The income generated by these parks directly benefits the communities living in and around the areas, and the model has created more than 5,200 jobs. With locals being directly involved in the upkeep of the lands through their work, the sense of environmental ownership has contributed to the success of such initiatives in preserving vital lands and ecosystems.
Carbon offset programs have also been seen as a potential tool to address the effects of climate change and create more sustainable models for conservation efforts. Companies like Conservation International and BioCarbon Partners (BCP) are working with the carbon credit model to support community-driven projects that protect and restore critical forests around the world. In Zambia, for instance, which is the fourth most forested country in Africa, BCP is using carbon offsets to conserve nearly 10,360 sq. kms. of unprotected wilderness, and the success has been enormous. Last year Europe-based Eni purchased 1.5 million tonnes of available carbon credits, giving local communities nearly $2.2 million to keep the ecosystem intact. BCP is hoping to double the size of the project by 2023.
Linking community development and conservation could also be an answer to funding challenges. The international community spends billions in development aid every year, and if funding silos between the two objectives can be broken down (given their interconnectedness), and coordination between development and conservation entities increases, chances for success in creating long-lasting and sustainable solutions could potentially be much higher.
Of course, as always, this does not mean that there will be a one-size-fits-all solution to these challenges. Countries and regions will have to tailor their responses to the issue based on their own contexts and capabilities. Ultimately, however, the key elements for strengthening conservation efforts must be centred around better management practices, increased funding, and strong implementation mechanisms to ensure compliance.
Promisingly, over 50 countries have come together as part of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People and announced their commitment to protecting at least 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030. But only declarations will not be enough. States will have to make tough decisions and implement stringent environmental regulations, be willing to invest the money needed to preserve the future of our planet, and promote equitable development that strengthens livelihoods and benefits society as a whole. The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the devastating effects of neglecting nature, and if we learn nothing, more pandemics and ecological crises will come, only furthering human suffering.
Covid-19 and the Conservation Crisis: Challenges and Ways Forward
While severe restrictions on trade and travel have temporarily allowed nature to thrive in some regions, reduced human presence is also putting life-threatening stress on the world’s protected areas.
January 23, 2021
SOURCE: UNITED FOR WILDLIFE