An analysis of the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on wildlife protection in protected areas of Zimbabwe in 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about unprecedented effects on the conservation and protection of wildlife in protected areas. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of Zimbabwe imposed lockdown measures to prevent and control the spread of the pandemic. The inability of researchers to conduct field-based research led to office-based research to determine the impacts of the pandemic on conservation. The objective of this study was to find out how the pandemic had affected the security of wildlife in protected areas of Zimbabwe in 2020. The researchers divided 2020 into three periods, ‘no’ lockdown, ‘full’ lockdown, and ‘partial’ lockdown. Data on wildlife protection, illegal activities and tourism performance was collected at the station level using a similar format and submitted to a central place for consolidation and analysis. Parametric and non-parametric tests were conducted based on the normality status of the data variables. The study findings are that (i) The number of rangers conducting law enforcement activities in 2020 remained the same, (ii) Rise in local poaching of wildlife with a peak in the dry season, increase in illegal fishing, and illegal mining activity during the period of ‘full' lockdown, (iii) Tourist arrivals and revenue generated from regional and international tourism showed a significant decline during ‘full' lockdown and ‘partial' lockdown (iv) Domestic arrivals increased as expected during 'partial' lockdown. This study corroborates the potential negative implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on wildlife protection which would continue to worsen with the prolonging pandemic. One lesson from this study is that the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) wildlife protection efforts in 2020 were sustained using financial reserves as a safety net and support from conservation partners. There is a need to ensure conservation safety nets through diversifying funding sources and creating financial reserves for conservation.