Question

Essay on impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on biodiversity

Answer 1

Answer:

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all parts of human society. Like everyone else, conservation biologists are concerned first with how the pandemic will affect their families, friends, and people around the world. But we also have a duty to think about how it will impact the world's biodiversity and our ability to protect it, as well as how it might affect the training and careers of conservation researchers and practitioners. As editors of Biological Conservation, we have heard first-hand from colleagues, authors, and reviewers around the world about the problems they are facing, and their concerns for their students, their staff, and their research projects. Some of our colleagues have become infected with the virus. Field and lab work have largely shut down, while teaching and other communications have moved online, with consequences for training, data collection, and networking that are still unclear. Our colleagues and the media report some examples of reduced human pressures on natural ecosystems, cleaner air and water, and wildlife reclaiming contested habitats. Beyond the direct and immediate consequences of this particular virus, some have also started to think about emerging infectious diseases and their links with biodiversity loss, human activities, and issues of sustainability.

As we write this, the pandemic is still accelerating in most countries, although there are hopeful signs of returns to normality in, for example, China. This editorial can therefore only be a snapshot of a quickly evolving situation. We hope, however, that we can offer some encouragement and insights for our colleagues in lockdown. Our world is changing, and the conservation community must be ready to respond.

Answer 2

Answer:

1. Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all parts of human society. Like everyone else, conservation biologists are concerned first with how the pandemic will affect their families, friends, and people around the world. But we also have a duty to think about how it will impact the world's biodiversity and our ability to protect it, as well as how it might affect the training and careers of conservation researchers and practitioners.

2. Protecting conservation biology and biologists during and after the pandemic

2.1. Adapting education

Across the world, universities and research institutes have shut down. As with other subjects, courses critical to the training of conservation biologists and managers are being cancelled or moved online. In practice, this means that professors with little prior online teaching experience are now teaching students with little experience in online learning. This can work well for some topics, but conservation is an applied science, like medicine, and students will miss the practical, hands-on experiences gained through labs and field courses. The consequences will depend on how long the shut-down continues and whether practical components of their training can be postponed until later.

Many career-relevant decisions made in the field of conservation are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Exams have been postponed and the award of degrees and certificates has been delayed. There has been a huge decline in advertising new jobs and interviewing for those previously advertised. Major research projects are on hold or cancelled, and associated employment opportunities lost, at least for now. Many researchers are continuing to employ students and technicians to work remotely on data analysis, digitizing paper records, coding interview transcripts, annotating photos and videos, or other tasks, but this is only a small part of conservation-related research and cannot continue for long.

The careers of tenured staff will survive if their institutions do, and students may be able to make up missed courses, but conservation also supports—and is supported by—numerous people who depend on temporary jobs in the field or lab. Early career scientists, such as graduate students and post-docs, need these jobs, both as a source of income and for the varied experiences they provide. For these young conservation scientists, financial worries interact with the problem of missed field or lab research. For some, these missed opportunities can be made up, although they may lead to delays of many months, but for others the damage will be irreversible, because of the nature of their research or their funding constraints.

Many conservation organizations, both governmental and some NGOs, recruit large numbers of seasonal employees, as short-term local contractors, student interns, and volunteers, to carry out fieldwork, environmental education, trail maintenance, and other activities. These positions are an important source of training, experience, and income for people in the field of conservation biology. The pandemic currently makes it impossible for many organizations to interview, hire, train, house, and supervise seasonal staff. Unless lock-down measures are reduced dramatically in the next couple of months, a whole cohort of students may therefore miss out on these opportunities.

2. Maintaining research

University laboratories and other research facilities have shut down, ending many lab-based experiments and halting new research. Field research has been similarly impacted, with many field sites no longer accessible, because of travel and entry restrictions, and safety concerns. International travel has become all but impossible, and post-pandemic recovery may be slow if countries maintain entry restrictions. Researchers can no longer conduct field-based social research that requires interviews or focus groups, because of the possibility of disease transmission. Oceanographic research cruises have also been cancelled, many permanently because of the difficulty of re-scheduling ship time. The impact of losing these expeditions is high, because the locations to be explored are typically remote and under-studied.

3. Protecting biodiversity during and after the pandemic

3.1. Biodiversity now

How is the pandemic affecting biodiversity now? It is too early for a definite answer, but communications with our colleagues around the world suggest that essential conservation work is still going ahead. National parks and protected areas in many places are still being patrolled and vulnerable wildlife is still being guarded. This continued protection is a testament to the dedication of protected area staff during an extraordinarily difficult time. There may be problems we have not heard about, but on current evidence, practical conservation appears to be continuing in many places.