Article
Details
Citation
Reuter K, Andriantsaralaza S, Friis Hansen M, LaFleur M, Jerusalinsky L, Louis EE, Ratzimbazafy J, Williamson E & Mittermeier RA (2022) Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Primate Research and Conservation. Animals, 12 (9), Art. No.: 1214. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12091214
Abstract
There is evidence to suggest that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may hamper our achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Here, we use non-human primates as a case study to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on the ability to achieve biodiversity conservation and management sustainability targets. We collected data through a survey of members of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group from January to March 2022. Of the 93 experts that responded to our survey, we found that 39% had not been able to visit any of their field sites since March 2020, 54% said they had less funding available for their primate-related work, and only one out of ten said they had managed to achieve at least 76–100% of their planned primate-related work since March 2020. Six out of 10 respondents (61%) felt that primate conservation efforts in protected areas were worse than before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and one-third (33%) felt hunting was happening more frequently than before. This study provides evidence of the impacts of COVID-19 on progress towards achieving the SDGs, and provides practical lessons learned for biodiversity conservation efforts moving forward.
Keywords
primates; sustainability; conservation; novel coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19
Journal
Animals: Volume 12, Issue 9
Status | Published |
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Funders | Re:wild |
Publication date | 31/05/2022 |
Publication date online | 08/05/2022 |
Date accepted by journal | 06/05/2022 |
URL | |
Publisher | MDPI AG |
eISSN | 2076-2615 |
People (1)
Honorary Professor, Psychology