COVID-19's Impact on the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance: Challenging Times and Resilience from Its Members.

The worldwide pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 challenged conservation organizations. The lack of tourism has benefited or negatively affected wildlife organizations in various ways, with several primate sanctuaries struggling to cope with the COVID-19 crisis and to keep providing for their inhabitants. In addition, the genetic similarity between great apes and humans puts them at higher risk than any other species for the transmission of COVID-19. PASA is a non-profit organization comprising 23 sanctuaries, and cares for many species of primate, including African great apes. In light of the pandemic, we aimed to understand the direct effects of COVID-19 on PASA management throughout three time periods: before (2018-2019), at the start of (2019-2020), and during (2020-2021) the pandemic. We collected data via annual surveys for PASA members and ran Generalized Linear Mixed Models to highlight any significant differences in their management that could be linked to COVID-19. Our findings demonstrated no particular impact on the number of primates rescued, employees, or expenses. However, revenues have been decreasing post-COVID-19 due to the lack of income from tourism and volunteer programs. Nonetheless, our results reveal a form of resilience regarding the sanctuaries and the strategy applied to maintain their management. Consequently, we emphasize the specific impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak and its repercussions for conservation work. We discuss the difficulties that sanctuaries have faced throughout the crisis and present the best measures to prevent future outbreaks and protect biodiversity.

Risk of Viral Infectious Diseases from Live Bats, Primates, Rodents and Carnivores for Sale in Indonesian Wildlife Markets.

Southeast Asia is considered a global hotspot of emerging zoonotic diseases. There, wildlife is commonly traded under poor sanitary conditions in open markets; these markets have been considered 'the perfect storm' for zoonotic disease transmission. We assessed the potential of wildlife trade in spreading viral diseases by quantifying the number of wild animals of four mammalian orders (Rodentia, Chiroptera, Carnivora and Primates) on sale in 14 Indonesian wildlife markets and identifying zoonotic viruses potentially hosted by these animals. We constructed a network analysis to visualize the animals that are traded alongside each other that may carry similar viruses. We recorded 6725 wild animals of at least 15 species on sale. Cities and markets with larger human population and number of stalls, respectively, offered more individuals for sale. Eight out of 15 animal taxa recorded are hosts of 17 zoonotic virus species, nine of which can infect more than one species as a host. The network analysis showed that long-tailed macaque has the greatest potential for spreading viral diseases, since it is simultaneously the most traded species, sold in 13/14 markets, and a potential host for nine viruses. It is traded alongside pig-tailed macaques in three markets, with which it shares six viruses in common (Cowpox, Dengue, Hepatitis E, Herpes B, Simian foamy, and Simian retrovirus type D). Short-nosed fruit bats and large flying foxes are potential hosts of Nipah virus and are also sold in large quantities in 10/14 markets. This study highlights the need for better surveillance and sanitary conditions to avoid the negative health impacts of unregulated wildlife markets.

From International to Local: Promoting Local Volunteer Tourism to Guarantee the Persistence of Wildlife Conservation Projects in the Post-COVID-19 Era

Volunteer tourists, often foreigners, collect essential data in wildlife conservation projects worldwide. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, international tourism activities reduced drastically, forcing many conservation projects to shut down. Using a nine-year (2013–2021) case study in Indonesia, we examine how local and foreign tourists construct the meaning of their volunteer experiences in the light of COVID-19. We aim to highlight the potential benefits of local volunteer tourism to face the travel limitations posed by COVID-19, and to show an example of how conservation projects can overcome the challenges of the current and potential future pandemics. We recruited 117 volunteers (49 Indonesians, 68 foreign;73 females, 44 males;mean age: 24.2 ±SD 4.7) that collected 50.8% of the total amount of data collected by the project over the same period. Of the 117 volunteers, 81 of them (38 Indonesians, 43 foreigners) filled in a feedback form at the end of their stay. Via logistic regressions, we found that Indonesian volunteers declared more positive feedback on the logistics at the research station (p = 0.047). Via Bayesian structural equation models, we found that Indonesian volunteers reported significantly more frequently than foreign volunteers that they learned new skills (89% Credible Interval = 0.017–0.351) and that they gained personal wisdom, growth and maturity (89% Credible Interval = 0.891–1.003) from the volunteer experience. The volunteer program evolved from being 100% foreign volunteers in 2013 to 100% Indonesian volunteers by 2020 at the peak of the pandemic, which helped maintain the continuity of the research and conservation activities. We presented the positive implications of shifting towards local volunteer tourists in a long-term conservation project. We suggest that promoting local volunteer tourism through training new generations of nationals in conservation projects is key to guarantee the persistence of such initiatives in the post-COVID-19 Era.