The COVID-19 crisis is creating a ‘perfect storm’ for conservation in Africa, as highlighted in this new paper. Economic downturns and the collapse of the tourism industry are reducing funding for conservation drastically. At the same time, lock-downs are posing constraints on the operations of conservation agencies, and economic downturns and influxes of people into rural areas in parts of the continent are causing elevated threats to wildlife. Particularly worrisome is the potential increase in poaching of wildlife for bushmeat. The authors make the case for the world to step in with emergency funding, while making a set of recommendations to increase the resilience of conservation efforts in Africa going forward.
A female lion walks through Zambia’s Kafue National Park, where bushmeat poaching is a serious threat to lions.