{"id":4732,"date":"2020-04-20T16:35:10","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T16:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/?p=4732"},"modified":"2020-07-27T17:04:59","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T17:04:59","slug":"natures-comeback-no-the-coronavirus-pandemic-threatens-the-worlds-wildlife-dr-charlie-gardner-writes-for-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/2020\/04\/20\/natures-comeback-no-the-coronavirus-pandemic-threatens-the-worlds-wildlife-dr-charlie-gardner-writes-for-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Nature’s comeback? No, the coronavirus pandemic threatens the world’s wildlife’ – Dr Charlie Gardner writes for The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

There have not been many bright spots in the coronavirus pandemic, but one has been the apparent return of nature as the frantic pace of modern life has slowed. We\u2019ve seen fish-eating birds return to the clear waters of\u00a0Venice<\/a>, wild boar roaming the streets of Bergamo and, of course, the feral mountain goats of Llandudno<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Britain, wildlife seems set for a bountiful spring and summer. Fewer cars on the road means\u00a0less roadkill<\/a>, and many birds and voles will be spared as owners decide to\u00a0keep their cats indoors<\/a>. In towns and cities,\u00a0wildflowers will surely flourish<\/a>\u00a0as councils realise that mowing their parks and verges is somewhat less than essential. Nature, it seems, is making a comeback.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this is but a partial picture and one that is limited to the minority world of industrialised nations. Most of the world\u2019s biodiversity is found in the low-income countries and emerging economies of the Global South<\/a> and, in such places, the economic impacts of the pandemic are likely to be devastating for the natural world.<\/p>\n

\"Madagascar\u2019s
Madagascar\u2019s forests are home to lemurs \u2013 and lots of resources that humans could easily exploit. [Louise Jasper, Author provided (No reuse)]<\/figcaption><\/figure>The difference lies in how people respond to the economic shock of losing their livelihood. Social safety nets are a widespread feature of many industrialised economies, keeping the poor and vulnerable from destitution, and the importance of the welfare state has\u00a0never been more obvious<\/a>\u00a0than during the pandemic. In the UK, for example, the government\u2019s furlough scheme guarantees that people unable to work will receive 80% of their income. But citizens of many low-income countries simply don\u2019t have such back-up from their governments, leaving them incredibly vulnerable. For many, the forest and the ocean will provide their safety net.<\/p>\n

Exploiting natural resources<\/a>\u00a0is often the only option for the destitute. Wild animals, fish and forest trees are rarely owned by anyone, and they are found in rural areas where policing is difficult. What\u2019s more, there are often few technical barriers to exploiting them \u2013 you don\u2019t need a degree to be able to wield an axe. So, when people are left with nothing, they can always find something to eat or sell in the forest.<\/p>\n

\"Slash-and-burn
Slash-and-burn agriculture is often the only way poor people in Madagascar can earn any income. [Louise Jasper, Author provided (No reuse)]<\/figcaption><\/figure>I saw this first hand in a decade spent living in Madagascar, which is rich in lemurs and other unique creatures, but is also one of the world\u2019s poorest nations. My research has shown that when Malagasy people lose their source of income due to climate change-induced natural disasters, they\u00a0often turn to natural resources to make ends meet<\/a>. Farmers suffering from drought may head to the forest to\u00a0produce charcoal<\/a> or practice \u201cslash-and-burn\u201d agriculture<\/a>. Others\u00a0head to the coast to fish<\/a>, but, lacking the necessary skills and equipment, they rely on destructive techniques like poison fishing. The impacts can be devastating for biodiversity.<\/p>\n

Of course, the coronavirus pandemic is an even greater threat to livelihoods than climate change, at least in the short term. Following the last financial crisis, in 2008, unemployed workers in Cameroon turned to poaching and deforestation<\/a>\u00a0in a desperate attempt to maintain their income, and a similar story will now be unfolding worldwide.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0India<\/a>, millions of migrant workers have lost their jobs in cities and returned to their family villages, a mass movement of people not seen since partition in 1947. A similar thing is happening in\u00a0Madagascar<\/a>\u00a0too, as it is throughout\u00a0Africa<\/a> and probably much of the tropics. Nobody knows what impacts this unprecedented rural exodus will have, but it is clear that many more people will be finding themselves poorer, hungrier and much closer to exploitable wildlife than they were a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\"Toliara,
Toliara, Madagascar. In the pandemic, millions of people are fleeing tropical cities for the countryside. [Louise Jasper, Author provided (No reuse)]<\/figcaption><\/figure>At the same time, the surveillance and management of our precious wild places is considerably weakened. Governments are understandably preoccupied with public health, so there is\u00a0less law enforcement<\/a>\u00a0in rural areas. Meanwhile, the shutdown of global tourism has pulled the financial rug out from thousands of protected areas, leaving them without an operational budget for\u00a0anti-poaching surveillance<\/a>\u00a0and other activities.<\/p>\n

Worse still, a long-term drop in tourism revenues may radically change the incentives for people living close to wildlife. Millions of people coexist with animals around the edges of African parks and reserves, but it is not always harmonious. Wild animals can \u2013 and often do \u2013\u00a0raid crops, attack livestock and even kill people<\/a>. Revenues from tourism can offset some of the costs local people pay and\u00a0provide an incentive for conservation<\/a>, but this fragile coexistence may not last if visitors stay away.<\/p>\n

So while the newly emboldened wildlife of Western cities brings joy in these dark times and a welcome reminder of nature\u2019s resilience, the world\u2019s wildlife won\u2019t be saved by a temporary economic lull. To achieve that, we\u2019re going to have to ensure conservation moves to the top of the agenda in the post-pandemic world.<\/p>\n

This article by Dr Charlie Gardner<\/a>, Lecturer\u00a0in Conservation Science at the\u00a0Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), <\/a>is republished from The Conversation<\/a>\u00a0under a Creative Commons licence. Read the\u00a0original article.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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