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The relative importance of COVID-19 pandemic impacts on biodiversity conservation globally |
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| Authors: | David W Gibbons Chris Sandbrook William J Sutherland Rezvin Akter Richard Bradbury Steven Broad Andy Clements Humphrey Q P Crick Joanna Elliott Ngawang Gyeltshen Melanie Heath Jonathan Hughes Richard K B Jenkins Alastair H Jones Rocio Lopez de la Lama Nicholas B W Macfarlane Mike Maunder Ravikash Prasad Alfredo Romero-Muñoz Noa Steiner James Tremlett Rosie Trevelyan Savita Vijaykumar Irushinie Wedage Nancy Ockendon |
| Institution: | 1. RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, The Lodge, Bedfordshire, UK;2. Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK;3. Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK;4. 7/1 R.K. Mission Road, Tikatuly, Dhaka, Bangladesh;5. RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, The Lodge, Bedfordshire, UK
Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK;6. TRAFFIC, Cambridge, UK;7. British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, UK;8. Natural England, Eastbrook, Cambridge, UK Cambridge Conservation Forum, Cambridge, UK;9. Fauna & Flora International, Cambridge, UK;10. Changzamtog, Thimphu, Bhutan;11. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK;12. UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK;13. Global Species Programme, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Cambridge, UK;14. Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd, Sutherland, New South Wales, Australia;15. Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada;16. Science & Knowledge, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Washington DC, USA;17. Cambridge Conservation Initiative, Cambridge, UK;18. Lot 11, Vuci Road, Nausori, Fiji;19. Geography Department, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany Fundación Cohabitar, Sucre, Bolivia;20. Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany;21. 12 Whanake Street, Porirua, New Zealand;22. Tropical Biology Association, Cambridge, UK;23. Earth CoLab, Bangalore, India;24. Parley for the Oceans, New York, NY, USA |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on almost all aspects of human society and endeavor; the natural world and its conservation have not been spared. Through a process of expert consultation, we identified and categorized, into 19 themes and 70 subthemes, the ways in which biodiversity and its conservation have been or could be affected by the pandemic globally. Nearly 60% of the effects have been broadly negative. Subsequently, we created a compendium of all themes and subthemes, each with explanatory text, and in August 2020 a diverse group of experienced conservationists with expertise from across sectors and geographies assessed each subtheme for its likely impact on biodiversity conservation globally. The 9 subthemes ranked highest all have a negative impact. These were, in rank order, governments sidelining the environment during their economic recovery, reduced wildlife-based tourism income, increased habitat destruction, reduced government funding, increased plastic and other solid waste pollution, weakening of nature-friendly regulations and their enforcement, increased illegal harvest of wild animals, reduced philanthropy, and threats to survival of conservation organizations. In combination, these impacts present a worrying future of increased threats to biodiversity conservation but reduced capacity to counter them. The highest ranking positive impact, at 10, was the beneficial impact of wildlife-trade restrictions. More optimistically, among impacts ranked 11-20, 6 were positive and 4 were negative. We hope our assessment will draw attention to the impacts of the pandemic and, thus, improve the conservation community's ability to respond to such threats in the future. |
| Keywords: | ambiente compendio coronavirus evaluación fauna naturaleza assessment compendium coronavirus environment nature wildlife |