Impacts of COVID-19 on Biodiversity Conservation and Community Networks at Kibale National Park, Uganda

Abstract

Conservation, like all aspects of society, was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there have been projections and speculations about impacts on conservation plans and actions, data about the extent of these impacts are sparse. We contribute evidence from a research field site in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Our analysis shows that many of the fears concerning the negative conservation impacts of COVID-19 were borne out. Long-term research projects were disrupted, affecting employment opportunities in the park. These effects percolated into the local communities, which reported high levels of financial stress and other negative impacts, such as increased rates of teenage pregnancy. People who were permanently employed at the park reported lower levels of financial stress. Also particularly concerning was the increase in poaching in the park due to a lack of food security. This research highlights an important path toward resiliency for research stations in the face of global crises, but it requires changes in funding duration and scope from granting agencies and governments. Operating differently than ecotourism, research field stations provide unique opportunities to build resilient conservation instruments and the results of this research can help guide policies to make research field stations more resilient.

与社会各个方面一样, 自然保护也受到了新冠肺炎疫情的严重影响。尽管我们已经预测和猜想了疫情对自然保护计划和行动的影响, 但很少有影响程度的数据。本文提供了乌干达Kibale国家公园野外研究站的证据。分析表明, 对新冠肺炎负面影响自然保护的许多担忧, 都得到了证实。长期研究项目被打乱, 进而影响了公园的就业机会。这些影响渗透到当地社区。据报道, 这些社区面临着很大的经济压力和其它负面影响(例如, 青少年的怀孕率上升)。公园永久工作人员的经济压力较低。特别令人担忧的是, 由于缺乏粮食保障, 公园偷猎行为有所增加。本研究强调了野外研究站应对全球危机的重要韧性措施, 但这需要资助机构和政府修改资助时间和研究范围。与生态旅游不同, 野外研究站为建立韧性的自然保护措施提供了独特机会。研究结果有助于指导政策、使野外研究站更具有韧性。

La conservación, como todos los aspectos de la sociedad, se vio severamente afectada por la pandemia del COVID-19. Aunque se han hecho proyecciones y especulaciones sobre los planes y acciones de la conservación, los datos relacionados con la amplitud de estos impactos son escasos. Nuestra contribución a la evidencia proviene de un sitio de investigación de campo localizado en el Parque Nacional de Kibale, en Uganda. Nuestro análisis muestra que muchos de los temores sobre las repercusiones negativas del COVID-19 sobe la conservación, fueron confirmadas. Los proyectos de investigación a largo plazo se vieron afectados negativamente, con manifiesta incidencia sobre las oportunidades de empleo en el parque. Estos efectos se filtraron hacia las comunidades locales, que reportaron altos niveles de estrés financiero y otros impactos negativos, tales como el incremento en las tasas de embarazo adolescente. La gente que disfrutaba de empleo permanente en el parque declaró niveles más bajos de estrés financiero. También, fue especialmente preocupante el incremento de la caza furtiva en el parque debido a la falta de seguridad alimentaria. Esta investigación destaca una ruta importante hacia la resiliencia de las estaciones de investigación, frente a las crisis globales, pero requiere cambios en la duración y alcance de la financiación por parte de las agencias que la conceden y los gobiernos. Al operar de manera diferente que el ecoturismo, las estaciones de investigación de campo proveen oportunidades únicas para construir instrumentos resilientes de conservación, para que los resultados de esta investigación puedan ayudar a guiar las políticas que hagan a las estaciones de investigación de campo más resilientes.

关键词:

• 生物多样性保护
• 新冠肺炎影响
• Kibale国家公园
• 野外研究站
• 空间社交网络

Palabras clave:

• conservación de la biodiversidad
• estación de investigación de campo
• impactos del COVID-19
• Parque Nacional de Kibale
• redes sociales espaciales

Key Words:

• biodiversity conservation
• COVID-19 impacts
• Kibale National Park
• research field station
• spatial social networks

Acknowledgments

This research would not have been possible without the help of Uganda Wildlife Authority and Makerere University Biological Field Station. Many thanks to our Research Field Assistant Jimmy Ogwang for conducting the interviews. This research was evaluated by Carleton University Research Ethics Board-A (CUREB-A). Protocol #115661.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

During the course of this study, the corresponding author was supported by grants from Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Health Research Board of Ireland, and the Carleton University Research Achievement Award.

Notes on contributors

Dipto Sarkar

DIPTO SARKAR is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa K1S 5B6, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. His research is focused on developing spatial analysis methods for modeling the efficacy of conservation plans and their impacts on park-adjacent communities.

Jan F. Gogarten

JAN F. GOGARTEN is a research scientist at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health and the Applied Zoology and Nature Conservation research group at the University of Greifswald, 17489 Greifswald, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]. His interests are in understanding the factors influencing the distributions of animals and their microbes across landscapes and how to improve conservation outcomes.

Xiaofan Liang

XIAOFAN LIANG is a PhD Candidate at the School of City and Regional Planning at the Georgia Institute of Technology and an incoming City and Regional Planning Assistant Professor at Taubman College of Urban Planning and Architecture, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include developing spatial social network metrics and visualizations to support urban planning practices.

Clio Andris

CLIO ANDRIS is an Associate Professor in the School of City & Regional Planning and School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 30313. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research is focused on spatial social network analysis, GIScience, and geovisualization.

Emmanuel Abwa Opito

EMMANUEL ABWA OPITO is a PhD Candidate in the School of Forestry, Environment and Geographical Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include livelihoods, food security, biodiversity conservation, population dynamics of arthropods, and clean cooking energy.

Kim Valenta

KIM VALENTA is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32603. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research focuses on the interactions between wild plants and animals.

Urs Kalbitzer

URS KALBITZER is a Research Group Leader in the Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany, and the Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz 78467, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]. His research aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the impact of environmental factors on animal behavior and fitness with a focus on nonhuman primates.

Raja Sengupta

RAJA SENGUPTA is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. Hie research interest is in developing various spatial analysis approaches and agent-based modeling for better understanding complex biological and social systems.

Colin A. Chapman

COLIN A. CHAPMAN is a Professor of Biology at Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, BC V9R 5S5, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. His research focuses on how the environment influences animal abundance and social organization and given the plight of tropical animals, he has applied his research to conservation.