Abstract
Public health and safety concerns around the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic have greatly changed human behaviour. Such shifts in behaviours, including travel patterns, consumerism, and energy use, are variously impacting biodiversity during the human-dominated geological epoch known as the Anthropocene. Indeed, the dramatic reduction in human mobility and activity has been termed the “Anthropause”. COVID-19 has highlighted the current environmental and biodiversity crisis and has provided an opportunity to redefine our relationship with nature. Here we share 10 considerations for conservation policy makers to support and rethink the development of impactful and effective policies in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are opportunities to leverage societal changes as a result of COVID-19, focus on the need for collaboration and engagement, and address lessons learned through the development of policies (including those related to public health) during the pandemic. The pandemic has had devastating impacts on humanity that should not be understated, but it is also a warning that we need to redefine our relationship with nature and restore biodiversity. The considerations presented here will support the development of robust, evidence-based, and transformative policies for biodiversity conservation in a post-COVID-19 world.
Highlights
The SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus pandemic has had an incredibly heavy human toll (from loss of life (Woolf et al 2020), to mental health crises (Tandon 2020), to loss of livelihoods (Dev 2020), to changes in food security (Uddin et al 2020)) and rapid and dramatic effects on the world and how it functions
We present 10 considerations for conservation policy makers and decision makers focused on development and refinement of conservation policy during the post-COVID-19 transition (Fig. 1)
Scholars have already charted pathways to navigating cleanenergy transitions driven by the pandemic (Steffen et al 2020), yet similar scaffolding has yet to occur for biodiversity and conservation policy
Summary
The SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus ( called COVID-19 recognizing that this is the resultant disease) pandemic has had an incredibly heavy human toll (from loss of life (Woolf et al 2020), to mental health crises (Tandon 2020), to loss of livelihoods (Dev 2020), to changes in food security (Uddin et al 2020)) and rapid and dramatic effects on the world and how it functions. Major changes in human behaviour spanning travel patterns, consumerism, and energy use, among others, have influenced local and global biodiversity (e.g., Gillingham et al 2020; Rondeau et al 2020; Zambrano-Monserrate et al 2020). These changes define the Anthropocene, a period characterized by unprecedented loss of biodiversity and global environmental change (Steffen et al 2007), for which there is desperate need for action to stop this loss and restore ecosystems (Jeanson et al 2020).
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