Build on the positive aspects of Covid-19

The tourism and travel industry is a major driver of economic growth globally. Job creation and social inclusion are among the obvious benefits of the industry.Who would have thought that this multi-billion-shilling industry would be decimated by a virus? The impact of Covid-19 on the industry has been severe and shockingly fast-moving.But who would have thought that Covid-19 could have a positive impact? Observers have commented on the clean air with reduced motor vehicle and industry pollution.REDUCED SMOGYou can now spend hours in Nairobi’s city centre without blowing soot into your handkerchief at the end of the day! There are reports that, with reduced smog, even the lofty peaks of Mt Kenya are visible from Nairobi!The silence between dusk and dawn means, for once, we can sleep soundly without the hooting of cars, swooshing of trucks and the irritating gritting of motorbikes.This new environment is not just pleasant to humans, but also to flora and fauna. We have read and seen scenes of wild animals out of their ecosystems — monkeys on the streets in Thailand; fish, ducks and dolphins in empty canals of Venice; deer in housing estates in Poland; sea lions in Buenos Aires beaches; coyotes in bayside San Francisco; puma roaming the sidewalks of Santiago; and wild pigs walking the streets of Haifa.The Covid-19 that has kept humans indoors has taken wild animals into town. The national parks and reserves, now devoid of the usual tourist traffic, provide an opportunity for animals to roam freely without human interference. With the ongoing rains, the herbivores are well-fed and breeding and carnivores hunt with little effort.Poachers, who operate under the cover of darkness, are under curfew. The poaching supply chain has been disrupted by increased police presence on the roads, lockdown of Nairobi and Mombasa and grounding of flights. Surveillance to ensure no strangers spread the virus to villages further makes storage of game trophies difficult.MOBILISATION OF THE PUBLIC  Danger, however, lurks in the shadows of the end of the pandemic. Human-wildlife conflict is bound to escalate as levels of resilience in vulnerable communities reduce.Escalation of bushmeat trade will probably be recorded as residents kill animals for food and poachers hunt endangered species to stockpile for speculation.CONSERVATIONMobilisation of the public to support conservation of wildlife and wild spaces is needed now more than ever to restart the tourism sector.Kenyan people are proud of their wildlife heritage and this is the time for them to demonstrate this pride by investing in post-Covid revival of the economy.Let us all jealously guard the clean air by protecting the forests. As we guarded our villages from the coronavirus, let’s police our communities against being bankers and transit points for game trophies.Lastly, this is our opportunity to shift the paradigm from total reliance on international tourism and donor funding to supporting conservation and encouraging local tourism and domestic support. Without this, the wildlife benefits of Covid-19, as well as the associated benefits of tourism, will be lost.Dr Kiiru, founder of CHD-ConservationKenya, is senior technical adviser for the Elephant Protection Initiative. @KiiruWinnie