Changes in wild meat hunting and use by rural communities during the COVID-19 socio-economic shock

There is limited quantitative evidence of the effects of socio-economic shocks on biological resource use. Focusing on wild meat hunting, a substantial livelihood and food source in tropical regions, we evaluated the impacts of the shock from Nigeria’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown on species exploitation around a global biodiversity hotspot. Using a 3-year quantitative dataset collected during and after the lockdown (covering 1008 hunter-months) and matching by time of year, we found that successful hunting trip rates were more frequent during the lockdown, with a corresponding increase in the monthly number, mass, and value of animals caught. Moreover, hunters consumed a larger proportion of wild meat and sold less during lockdown, compared to non-lockdown periods. These results suggest that local communities relied on wild meat to supplement reduced food and income during the lockdown, buffering the COVID-19’s socio-economic shock. Our findings also indicate that wild species may be especially vulnerable to increased hunting pressure during socio-economic shocks.

COVID-19 impacts, opportunities and challenges for wildlife farms in Binh Duong and Ba Ria Vung Tau, Vietnam

The wildlife trade is a major cause of species loss and can trigger disease transmission. While the COVID-19 pandemic sparked public interest in eliminating the wildlife trade, a better understanding is needed of the economic repercussions of COVID-19 on those who rely on wildlife farming for their livelihoods. Using the case studies of Ba Ria Vung Tau and Binh Duong provinces in Vietnam – a country seen as Asia’s wildlife trade hotspot – this paper explores COVID-19’s impacts on wildlife farms and their owners. Understanding these impacts is important, both in order to design appropriate interventions to support local people in mitigating COVID-19’s impacts as well as to inform effective policymaking around wildlife conservation in Vietnam. In this study, we adopted mixed research methods (including a literature and policy review, stakeholder consultation with government agencies and NGOs engaged in designing and monitoring wildlife conservation policies, a wildlife farming household survey, and research validation workshop) to understand the status of Vietnamese wildlife farms, as well as the impacts of COVID-19, and any opportunities and challenges for wildlife conservation and management in Vietnam. Our paper shows that, across the two studied provinces, numbers of wildlife farms and farmed wildlife animals have both declined since the pandemic, with declining market demand and wildlife farm owners experiencing difficulties accessing markets due to travel restrictions. Although this affected wildlife-related income, this represented less than 30 % of families’ overall income on average, and thus households were able to maintain their livelihoods through other sources. Most wildlife is raised as an additional food source for farming families and plays an important role in the diets of surveyed households. Findings also highlighted that most surveyed households’ post-pandemic recovery strategies involved expanding their wildlife farms in scope and scale; these households perceived a stable domestic market and high prices for wildlife products in future. Our study found several opportunities for sustainable wildlife farming practices, including greater political commitment, an increasing number of wildlife conservation policies, and stronger law enforcement mechanisms. Challenges remain, however; including an unclear and inconsistent policy framework, the presence of an illegal market, and wildlife farm owners’ limited knowledge and understanding of wildlife policies. Our paper also shows a lack of comprehensive data and understanding around actual wildlife transactions during the pandemic, leading to challenges in confirming whether COVID-19 had any real impact on wildlife trade. Further research is required to address this knowledge gap.

Tritrophic defenses as a central pivot of low-emission, pest-suppressive farming systems

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted the intricate connections between human and planetary health. Given that pesticide-centered crop protection degrades ecological resilience and (in-)directly harms human health, the adoption of ecologically sound, biodiversity-driven alternatives is imperative. In this Synthesis paper, we illuminate how ecological forces can be manipulated to bolster ‘tritrophic defenses’ against crop pests, pathogens, and weeds. Three distinct, yet mutually compatible approaches (habitat-mediated, breeding-dependent, and epigenetic tactics) can be deployed at different organizational levels, that is, from an individual seed to entire farming landscapes. Biodiversity can be harnessed for crop protection through ecological infrastructures, diversification tactics, and reconstituted soil health. Crop diversification is ideally guided by interorganismal interplay and plant–soil feedbacks, entailing resistant cultivars, rotation schemes, or multicrop arrangements. Rewarding opportunities also exist to prime plants for enhanced immunity or indirect defenses. As tritrophic defenses spawn multiple societal cobenefits, they could become core features of healthy, climate-resilient, and low-carbon food systems.

Emergence/Re-emergence of Infectious Agents and Epidemic Risks in Central African Forests

The years 2020–2021 will always be marked by the COVID-19 crisis. This pandemic was triggered by the coronavirus SARSCoV-2, which broke the species barrier between a (still unknown) wildlife species and humans, somewhere in China in 2019 (Andersen et al. 2020). Above and beyond the number of deaths directly caused by COVID-19, this crisis will have an impact on our societies over the long term. Yet, this pandemic is not the first of its kind in modern times. The 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease epidemic in West Africa (and its resurgence in 2021) has also been a major warning sign of the threat posed by the transfer of a pathogen from wildlife to human populations (Heymann et al. 2015). A long list of emerging animal pathogens has already threatened to reach – or succeeded in reaching – epidemic or pandemic proportions after interspecies transmission (known as “spillover”). These include HIV, SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV, Nipah virus and Rift Valley fever.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts, Craftsmen’s Living Strategies, and Economic Recovery of Bamboo Handicraft Enterprise in Gunungkidul, Indonesia

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the household bamboo handicraft industry in rural areas. A comprehensive study was conducted to identify impacts, living strategies, and economic recovery; the findings will be used as a basis to recommend supporting policy to create a more resilient bamboo handicraft business. This study applied phenomenological approach to interpret the social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2021, 30 bamboo craftsmen in Semin Village, Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta Special Province were interviewed. Results show that 96.7% of bamboo craftsmen experienced a decrease in profit, with 46.6% reporting no order for a long period. The profit earned by craftsmen decreased by 76.50%. Bamboo craftsmen adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic by minimizing capital expenses, creating innovations marketing in options (i.e., direct sales, selling online) and focusing on alternative income sources (farming, hunting and gathering, selling food, and becoming laborers) to survive. As the spread of the virus was controlled, leading to the relaxation of restrictions on economic activities, the bamboo industry in Semin has entered an economic recovery phase. Currently, the average profit has reached 66.18%, compared to the profit earned in normal pre-pandemic situation. We believe the government should facilitate craftsmen to build their capacity in e-commerce, export mechanism, market network creation, tool acquisition, and English proficiency. This would enhance the bamboo handicraft industry in Semin to be more resilient facing future challenges.

Immediate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of wildlife as food among indigenous people and local communities in South America

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a range of effects on the environment and particularly on wildlife, through diverse and sometimes contradictory impact pathways. In this study, based on data collected among indigenous people and local communities from South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, and Peru), we investigated changes in the use of wildlife resources for food during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study generated unique data collected from 756 households in 60 communities and nine sites. We confirm the hypothesis that wildlife use increased as a short-term response to food insecurity during the pandemic, and fish played a more significant role than wild meat in that endeavor. The increase in wild-meat consumption as a response to food insecurity was conditioned by prices and availability (unsuccessful hunts). Wildlife use did not increase as an alternative means to generate income, because communities were cut off from the market economy for several months. Also, whereas the reliance on wildlife emerged as an immediate solution during the first months of the crisis, longer-term strategies prioritized at household level involved diversifying food sources through domestic meat and crop production. Among all available animal-based proteins, local chicken came just after fish as the animal-based source of protein whose consumption increased the most during the first months of the crisis, as a response to food insecurity. We caution that relying on wildlife as a safety net may constitute a poverty trap in cases where the resource is depleted. Although not specifically studied here, access to land and the transmission of traditional knowledge/skills are possible additional determinants of the role that wildlife may play in times of crisis, and this is proposed as an area for future research. Results also attest to local communities expecting more support from their respective national governments, and confirm results from Walters et al. (2021) that governments were generally absent or unable to react quickly during the pandemic, leaving households (or their local leaders) with the responsibility to innovate with local solutions and pro-actively adapt to the rapid impacts of the crisis.

Wild meat consumption in urban Sierra Leone during the Covid-19 pandemic

Wild meat is associated with an increased risk of zoonotic diseases. In some West African countries wild meat consumption declined as the result of official restrictions following Ebola outbreaks during 2013–2016, and was also affected by the current Covid-19 pandemic. In Sierra Leone, a country affected by these diseases, we documented wild meat use in four markets in the capital, Freetown. From a total of 197 interviews, we analysed the influence of age and gender on the types of wild meat eaten and the reasons for their consumption. We found that more men than women consumed wild meat, and for both genders taste was the main reason for eating wild meat. Age did not affect wild meat consumption amongst women. Evidence for changes in consumer behaviour in response to zoonotic disease risk was mixed. Although some consumers avoided wild meat because of disease risk, none stated this was the primary reason for not eating wild meat, and monkeys (presumed to carry a high zoonotic disease risk) were amongst the species cited as being consumed often. More work is needed to identify the best pathway towards safe and sustainable consumption of wild meat in urban Sierra Leone.

Vulnerability and coping strategies within wild meat trade networks during the COVID-19 pandemic

Measures adopted to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and economic shocks caused by the pandemic have affected food networks globally, including wild meat trade networks that support the livelihoods and food security of millions of people around the world. In this article, we examine how COVID-related shocks have affected the vulnerability and coping strategies of different actors along wild meat trade networks. Informed by 1,876 questionnaires carried out with wild meat hunters, traders, vendors, and consumers in Cameroon, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Guyana, the article presents qualitative evidence as to how COVID-19 impacted different segments of society involved in wild meat trade networks. Our findings largely align with McNamara et al. (2020) and Kamogne Tagne et al.’s (2022) causal model hypothesising how the impacts of the pandemic could lead to a change in local incentives for wild meat hunting in sub-Saharan African countries. Like McNamara et al. (2020) and Kamogne Tagne et al. (2022), we find that the pandemic reduced wild meat availability for wild meat actors in urban areas while increasing reliance on wild meat for subsistence purposes in rural areas. However, we find some impact pathways to be more relevant than others, and also incorporate additional impact pathways into the existing causal model. Based on our findings, we argue that wild meat serves as an important safety net in response to shocks for some actors in wild meat trade networks. We conclude by advocating for policies and development interventions that seek to improve the safety and sustainability of wild meat trade networks and protect access to wild meat as an environmental coping strategy during times of crisis.

Methods for studying Covid-19 impacts on wildlife conservation policies and local livelihoods in Vietnam

Over the past 10 years, the Government of Vietnam has developed many policies towards wildlife conservation. The introduction of the Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy for 2021–2030 and vision to 2050 outlines strategies and priorities in biodiversity conservation and implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). However, effective implementation of these strategies requires context-relevant actions that address issues currently facing central and local governments and people.

Policymaker perceptions of COVID-19 impacts, opportunities and challenges for sustainable wildlife farm management in Vietnam

This paper uses Vietnam – where overexploitation of wildlife resources is a major threat to biodiversity conservation – as a case study to examine how government officials perceive the impacts of COVID-19 on wildlife farming, as well as the opportunities and challenges presented for sustainable wildlife management. Findings show Vietnamese government officials perceive COVID-19 to have had mixed impacts on wildlife conservation policies and practice. While the pandemic strengthened the legal framework on wildlife conservation, implementation and outcomes have been poor, as existing policies are unclear, contradictory, and poorly enforced. Our paper also shows policymakers in Vietnam are not in favor of banning wildlife trade. As our paper documents the immediate impacts of the pandemic on wildlife farming, more research is necessary to analyse longer-term impacts.

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