1. Conserving Africa’s wildlife and wildlands through the COVID-19 crisis and beyond
- Author
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Alexandre Caron, Andrew Parker, Ashley Robson, Kathleen H. Fitzgerald, Morgan Jayne Trimble, Patience Gandiwa, Dilys Roe, Nyambe Nyambe, Thomas Breuer, Peadar Brehony, Peter Tyrrell, James Allan, Paul Thomson, Simon Nampindo, Kurt Steiner, Colleen Begg, Dickson Kaelo, Nícia Givá, Hasita Bhammar, Peter A. Lindsey, Lisa J. Blanken, Michael V. Flyman, Amy Dickman, University of Pretoria [South Africa], Griffith University [Brisbane], Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam [Amsterdam] (UvA), University of Cambridge [UK] (CAM), University of Oxford [Oxford], University of Cape Town, TRT Conservation Fondation, World Bank Group, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Fonds mondial pour la nature (WWF), Conservation Capital, Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Department of Wildlife and National ParksParks and Wildlife Management Authority, Eduardo Mondlane University, Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association, Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area Secretariat, Independent Consultant, Conserve Africa, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Animal, Santé, Territoires, Risques et Ecosystèmes (UMR ASTRE), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Université Eduardo Mondlane, Département Systèmes Biologiques (Cirad-BIOS), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad), South Rift Association of Landowners, University of Nairobi (UoN), A.C. and N.G. were supported by the EU funded `ProSuLi in TFCAs' project (FED/20 I 7/394 -443) and the research platform RP-PCP (www.rp-pcp.org).A.D.was supported by a fellowship from the Recanati-Kaplan Foundation., and Theoretical and Computational Ecology (IBED, FNWI)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Natural resource economics ,Restructuring ,media_common.quotation_subject ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,Pneumonia, Viral ,relation homme-faune ,Wildlife ,Animals, Wild ,010501 environmental sciences ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Betacoronavirus ,Pandemic ,Animals ,Humans ,Pandemics ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,media_common ,2. Zero hunger ,Ecology ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Évaluation de l'impact ,espèce en danger ,COVID-19 ,15. Life on land ,Wildlife trade ,Environmental studies ,Habitat ,13. Climate action ,Conservation de la diversité biologique ,Africa ,Conservation de la nature ,[SDV.SPEE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Santé publique et épidémiologie ,P01 - Conservation de la nature et ressources foncières ,Business ,Psychological resilience ,Conservation biology ,Coronavirus Infections - Abstract
In Africa, COVID-19 has created a perfect storm of reduced funding, restrictions on the operations of conservation agencies, and elevated human threats to nature. This Perspective discusses solutions to move beyond this immediate crisis.The SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 illness are driving a global crisis. Governments have responded by restricting human movement, which has reduced economic activity. These changes may benefit biodiversity conservation in some ways, but in Africa, we contend that the net conservation impacts of COVID-19 will be strongly negative. Here, we describe how the crisis creates a perfect storm of reduced funding, restrictions on the operations of conservation agencies, and elevated human threats to nature. We identify the immediate steps necessary to address these challenges and support ongoing conservation efforts. We then highlight systemic flaws in contemporary conservation and identify opportunities to restructure for greater resilience. Finally, we emphasize the critical importance of conserving habitat and regulating unsafe wildlife trade practices to reduce the risk of future pandemics.
- Published
- 2020
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