Covid lack of tourists collapses wildlife protection in Asia, Africa and South America (1 Viewer)

[jurek]

The collapse of international tourism due to efforts to slow spread of the coronavirus has led to heavy revenue losses for many wildlife parks, cutting budgets and threatening longer-term closures.

More than half of protected areas in Africa had been forced to halt or reduce field patrols and anti-poaching operations. A quarter of protected sites in Asia have had to reduce conservation activities.

Bush meat hunting has also increased significantly due to both patrol reductions and growing poverty.

Wildlife protections, especially in Africa, cut sharply during pandemic -IUCN conservation group

By Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) - The COVID-19 pandemic is undermining nature conservation efforts, cutting park and anti-poaching patrols in more than half of Africa's protected sites, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said on Thursday. The collapse of international...

www.swissinfo.ch

A comment from me: this also shows how disastrous to biodiversity would be drop of international tourism due to enforced carbon neutrality, or due to shrinking of the middle class in the West.

 

[Steve Lister]

Very predictable. All those employed in any way with the ecotourism initiatives will be struggling. Some tour companies have been highlighting how their local guides have lost their incomes but it goes a lot further than that. The sooner we can get back to travelling the better.

 

[YuShan]

A comment from me: this also shows how disastrous to biodiversity would be drop of international tourism due to enforced carbon neutrality, or due to shrinking of the middle class in the West.

Yes, I always struggle with the idea that by travelling I am on one hand contributing to the destruction of the very thing I love, but on the other hand I am locally creating an incentive to protect it.

Then again, they don't make that much money off me because I don't use guides, don't stay in expensive eco-resorts and don't use private transportation (I use cheap local busses or (preferably!) walk/ backpack where feasible!). Of course, this in turn lowers my eco-footprint, but everything is small change compared to the impact of the international flights. I still pay entry fees for the parks though and I bring in money by eating in restaurants and staying in budget accommodation (or preferably camp), but this has the disadvantage that it is often not obvious that these revenues are linked to eco-tourism, as it would be when hiring guides and staying in expensive eco-resorts.

But hey, 55 days Ecuador for a total cost of €1480 (including international flights):

Ecuador – Hiking Birdman

www.hikingbirdman.com

Or 53 days Ethiopia for a total cost of €1586 (including international flights):

Ethiopia – Hiking Birdman

www.hikingbirdman.com

Or 30 days Thailand for a total cost of €938 (including international flights):

Thailand – Hiking Birdman

www.hikingbirdman.com

etc

So birding is not just for the rich!