opisska
rabid twitcher
Speaking from the frontline here in Italy, the coronavirus threat is no longer a threat but a dismal reality. Movements between towns are severely restricted and permitted only for work or health reasons or for emergencies or assistance to family members. This means, as the president of EBN Italy, Italy's foremost birding organisation pointed out in an email to members earlier today, that birding will be possible only walking or cycling around town or in its immediate vicinity.
This has an impact not only on our favourite pastime but also on conservation activities, such as the Lanner Falcon surveillance camps which were being organised for this spring. Conservation NGOs are currently discussing how to ensure at least a minimum level of monitoring of threatened species etc. Needless to say, poachers and falconers will probably not be deterred by the new rules as they were defying or breaking the law already.
:-C
Of course we also are unable to plan holidays and/or short breaks, also considering that the government has requested that those employers who can spare their workforce give them paid leave to minimise travel and contagion. This will mean that some people will have to use up their weeks of paid leave now and have no or few days left at the end of this mess. Personally speaking we had to cancel our usual skiing trip, fortunately we hadn't booked anything yet.
We'll just have to travel by proxy reading the trip reports on BF!
The idea that people should be using their paid leave for this is absolutely abhorrent. It's yet another manifestation of the idea that a person is nothing more than a biological robot to those people in power. If the state concludes (hopefully bases on expert opinions) that people should stay off work, then that's a completely valid move, but the burden can't be transferred to the affected people.