According to a study published on July 29 in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, the restrictions on the movement of people due to the current health crisis are causing serious problems for the conservation of biodiversity in Africa and for the communities that live from its effects.

According to the authors of this study, in fact, the pandemic caused the collapse of tourism, the reduction of funding and the limitation of the operations of conservation agencies in the field.

“The cessation of international tourism is compromising economic models based on community tourism, undermining years of investments and efforts in this sector and which aimed to generate benefits for local populations,” explains Alexandre Caron, researcher at CIRAD (Center for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development) and co-author of the study.

“Africa and its new generation of researchers, technicians and managers must now bring out African conservation models, adapted to the local context and African cultures”

Alexandre Caron, researcher at CIRAD

Therefore, adds the latter, some communities on the periphery of protected areas will be forced, in this degraded economic context, to turn to the use of natural resources, including wildlife, to survive; which implies a risk for wild animals... In

Benin, Is Deen O. Akambi, in charge of biodiversity issues at Eco Bénin, an NGO specialized in ecotourism and development, shares the observations made by researchers in their study and its results.

In passing, he said that he had noted strong pressure from communities on the ground on the resources still available for survival needs due to the decline in the national and local tourist economy.

In addition, the increase in illegal hunting activities is already being observed in some places in Africa. This, according to Alexandre Caron, “is causing an increase in contacts between humans and wild animals, and increasing the risks of transmission of new pathogens, especially in Central Africa.”

Moreover, according to Christophe Bazivamo, Deputy Secretary General for Productive and Social Sectors, at the East African Community (EAC), in countries such as Kenya and Uganda, since the outbreak of the pandemic, “endangered species and transnational crime across porous borders have increased while wildlife poaching for bushmeat has increased significantly”.

Researchers believe that the impoverishment of communities living near protected areas and the increase in bush hunting activities due to the health crisis are a real threat to species conservation and the protection of biodiversity.

“Today, conservation success can no longer be assessed simply by counting the number of wild animals and the ecosystem services provided to the planet. If the people who surround a protected area are food insecure and remain poor, then the objective is not achieved,” analyzes Alexandre Caron.

He illustrates his point with rhinoceros poaching in southern Africa. “As long as young Mozambicans or South Africans are ready to risk their lives to go and poach a rhinoceros for lack of other economic alternatives, then long-term conservation success will not be achieved,” believes the researcher.

Virtual tourism

Faced with this situation, Christophe Bazivamo believes that African governments should provide direct support to the wildlife conservation sector.

For Gauthier Amoussou, executive director of Eco Benin, “States must secure forest areas or parks for the purpose of paying for ecosystem services and not only for tourism or hunting, while creating local products capable of boosting the local economy.”

At the same time, “we believe that forms of virtual tourism should be developed, where tourists can pay for services without moving from home”, suggests Is Deen O.Akambi.
Otherwise, researchers invite African countries as a whole to develop local and regional tourism, which makes them less dependent on international tourism. Not to mention supporting local communities living around protected areas in their adaptation to global changes, in particular climate change.