‘Renewing our contract with nature’: How COVID-19 threatens the future of wildlife conservation in Africa
For the first time since 1999, Kenya recorded zero rhino deaths from poaching last year. This milestone has been attributed to dedicated conservation efforts and a drastic decline in wildlife tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, constraints from stringent lockdown measures and dwindling financial support have forced park rangers to work long, strenuous hours to protect threatened wildlife, all under a model that cannot be sustained long-term.
Like the rest of the world, African policymakers did not foresee an intense and immediate drop in tourism revenue. Most African initiatives rely on daily national park entry fees to fund the rangers that protect the wildlife and their habitat. Without the revenue generated from tourism, there is a lack of adequate financial reserves, grants, or insurance. Many African economies are projected to suffer greatly, with steep declines in foreign investment and reduced inflows of remittances and foreign aid due to strict lockdown restrictions threatening the conservation of Africa’s treasured wildlife and wildlands. Africa has nearly 2,000 Key Biodiversity Areas, which supports the world’s most diverse and abundant large mammal populations. Commercially, the most evident value of Africa’s wildlife and wildlands comes from their wildlife-based tourism industry, which generates over $29 billion USD annually and employs 3.6 million people.
Community-based conservation (CBC) programs have progressed in the last 20 years, supporting millions of rural African livelihoods. Despite political pledges to aid with conservation efforts in Africa, the continent experiences persistent funding shortages, which hinders management effectiveness. In Namibia, 86 conservancies stand to lose nearly $11 million USD in income from tourism operations and salaries for tourism staff who live in these conservancies. This loss translates to 700 community game guards and rhino rangers, 300 conservancy staff, and 1,175 locally hired tourism members that now are at high risk of losing their livelihoods. Likewise, these stakes are higher in places such as Kenya, where conservancies are positioned to lose $120 million USD in annual income with profound consequences for wildlife protection.
The financial value of ecosystem services is a guiding political and economic decision-making scheme of the 21st century. Government decisions for enhanced conservation mechanisms during the pandemic symbolize the sentiment that “humans need a renewed contract with nature.” This phrase was coined by Derrick and Beverly Joubert, National Geographic explorers, conservationists, and award-winning filmmakers from South Africa. Recently, the Jouberts are advocating for initiatives to better support local economies and African wildlife during the pandemic. They claim that COVID-19 has made many people around the world more reflective and appreciative of nature. Humans have continuously taken advantage of nature, from the negative implications of virtual illegal wildlife trade, to habitat destruction of forests and wetlands in the Amazon, to the eradication of insect species.
Traction has grown for a widespread movement that advocates global societal change in how humans interact with nature, and how communities can better protect and preserve the precious environments around them. To reduce the possibility of another viral spillover, many critical components have to be considered in more holistic conservation. This includes reducing human interface with wild spaces, eliminating transmission points of high viral spillover—such as commercial markets—and safeguarding against illegal trade in wildlife.
When the virus abates and tourism gradually returns, sustaining wildlife and shifting economic realities require a new and sophisticated management approach. To prevent the negative effects of the pandemic, which are projected to reverse 30 years of wildlife conservation gains, African governments must collaborate to mitigate damages and call for global action. The diverse and interconnected communal conservatory programs across multiple countries that employ and sustain African economies and livelihoods are in jeopardy, and a tremendous loss in African nature and wildlife would inevitably ripple throughout the entire global community. To reduce the risk of a future global pandemic, the community development agenda in Africa cannot be a forgotten component, amidst the plethora of other pressing environmental issues.