Global Conservation and the Pandemic – Mark Carwardine’s way of thinking

I have known Mark since school days and from those early years he has gone on to become an influential conservationist and champion of genuine ecotourism. He is also a Birds on the Brink Advisor and the charity is extremely grateful for his support and oversight.

Above: Mark leading a group of enthusiastic whale-watchers in a close encounter with one of Baja California’s Gray Whales. ©Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd

Q: Can you see any benefits for wildlife from the Pandemic and Lockdown?

‘If you have seen pictures of pollution-free skies, Wild Boar roaming the centre of Barcelona, and Kashmiri goats causing havoc on the streets of Llandudno you could be forgiven for thinking nature had bounced back during the coronavirus Pandemic. Indeed, for some species lockdown does appear to have been good news. There is some evidence that the number of Hedgehogs killed on Britain’s roads has halved, for example. And in India there has been a massive spike in the number of Olive Ridley Turtle hatchlings emerging from beaches devoid of humans.

There may be more subtle benefits, too. Pre-lockdown, urban birds had to sing more often and louder than their countryside counterparts, which was time-consuming and energy-sapping. With lockdown restrictions in place no doubt they will have benefited from the peace and quiet.

There’s a but of course…’

Q: So, what’s the downside for wildlife in a time of Pandemic and Lockdown?

‘For much of the world’s wildlife, the various lockdowns have been anything but good news. Many countries have reported a catastrophic surge in poaching of rhinos, elephants, tigers and other endangered species. Poachers must be rubbing their hands in glee. A tragic combination of park closures, Covid-related diversion of law enforcement, reduced ranger patrols, and no tourist eyes and ears on the ground, means they’ve been given free rein to roam and hunt.

Meanwhile, the closure of safari tourism, which is worth a staggering US$30 billion a year in Africa alone, is having a massive impact on local employment. This explains an alarming increase in wildlife killing for bushmeat, so that people can put food on the table.  

An increase in poaching and hunting during lockdown is not just worrying for wildlife. It makes future pandemics more likely: the vast majority of emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19, are zoonotic in origin, and stem from unhealthy and inappropriate interactions with wild animals.

Coronavirus is also providing a handy diversion for all sorts of other environmental wrongdoing. Take for example Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, someone who has nothing but contempt for the environment (and, for that matter, COVID-19). He is allowing (some might say encouraging) illegal loggers and speculators to use the current crisis as a smokescreen to invade indigenous lands and protected areas in the Amazon. Destruction of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest is now worse than it has been for more than a decade.

In the UK, the RSPB has been swamped with reports of birds of prey being killed since lockdown, with most incidents linked to shooting estates. No doubt the culprits feel emboldened by the absence of potential witnesses.

Then there is climate change. It used to be headline news but now, while the world is preoccupied with a new, marginally more immediate crisis, it has fallen by the wayside. The great fear is that the momentum has been lost and will never be regained. If there’s one thing we’ve learnt during lockdown it is just how much is needed to tackle climate change. With industry grinding to a halt, fewer cars on the roads and planes grounded, we’re living through the biggest carbon crash ever recorded. It’s estimated that CO2 emissions this year will fall by around 5.5%. That’s equivalent to the entire energy requirement of India.

But here’s a sobering thought. The UN is urging cuts of 7.6% every year for the next decade just to keep climate change to within manageable proportions. So, even if we all stayed in lockdown until 2030, we still wouldn’t fix the problem. It can only be resolved by a fundamental shift in climate policy and exactly the same rapid, extensive and determined international action deployed to tackle the Coronavirus.’

Q: Is there any good environmental news?

‘A positive consequence of the Pandemic is that we seem to be appreciating green spaces and nature more than ever before. This is good for our mental health and, intriguingly, it may be going some way to offsetting the stresses of isolation. Who knows, it might even reconnect people with the things that really matter - the problems that beset Planet Earth and all its inhabitants.’

For more thought-provoking environmental comment, read Mark Carwardine’s regular BBC Wildlife feature My Way of Thinking

Above: reminders of happier times, filming for the TV series Last Chance to See with Sirocco the Kakapo and Stephen Fry (left) and Mark going solo (right).