The Covid-19 pandemic has created multiple disruptions to the way society works: the near total suspension of global travel is one of these. Where global tourism revenues have been helping to deliver biodiversity conservation and local livelihoods, the pandemic has dramatically altered the trajectory of many local economies.
It is no exaggeration to say that the collapse of wildlife tourism threatens to compromise decades of development and conservation work in nature-rich and emblematic parts of Africa. It has also made the frailty of nature conservation and livelihoods dependent on nature-based tourism increasingly apparent. How can we regain what we have lost while building a more resilient future, looking beyond tourism, for people and nature conservation in Africa?
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Ideation
Luc Hoffmann Institute Advisory Council member Bill Adams writes a piece in his Thinking like a human blog called “COVID-19 and Conservation”, which questions how conservation will be impacted and reimagined in the aftermath of the pandemic.
The institute shares an outline of the Collaborative Platform concept on May 12th
Read the concept for a Collaborative Platform to sustain conservation and communities in Africa
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On May 20th the Luc Hoffmann Institute mobilises 70 key actors to engage with the idea of a Collaborative Platform to address tourism systems in Africa impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
Aspiration
A new Collaborative Platform that amplifies existing fundraising efforts and supports the activities of community stakeholders who are the custodians of the landscapes and wildlife, and upon whom successful tourism activities depend. The Collaborative Platform encourages enterprise and is broad enough to encompass all those actors in the wildlife tourism sector who need support to survive the Covid-19 disruption, whether they are community-based, government or private sector.
Related resources
Developing a platform for sustaining conservation and communities in Africa
The initial proposal for the African Collaborative Platform, drafted by the Luc Hoffmann Institute and discussed at the 20 May 2020 convening.
COVID-19 and Conservation
A March 2020 blog post by Luc Hoffmann Institute Advisory Council member Bill Adams in his series Thinking like a human which inspired the institute’s COVID-19 response.
COVID 19 and sustainable tourism: Information resources and links
A collection of resources by Dr Anna Spenceley including ideas to help resilience and recovery, market research and intelligence, impacts on tourism and destinations, virtual tours and ideas to keep us inspired, and more.
Innovative business models for life on Earth
A Luc Hoffmann Institute thought leadership initiative pointing to possible new ways to sustain conservation and livelihoods. The initiative contributes to the third stream of the Collaborative Platform by helping to source longer-term measures to improve the resilience of African conservation strategies.
Building Back Better: a Marshall Plan for Natural Capital (external document)
A plan on reversing the decline in Sub-Saharan African GDP in Nature-Based Tourism Sector from COVID-19
Editorial Essay: COVID-19 and Protected and Conserved Areas (external document)
This special editorial provides a snapshot of how protected and conserved areas around the world are being impacted by COVID-19. For many protected and conserved areas, negative impacts on management capacity, budgets and effectiveness are significant, as are impacts on the livelihoods of communities living in and around these areas.
