Safari tourism has long been an economic boon to people in Africa. However, the suspension of air travel and safari visits as a result of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has decimated this critical source of income — and had a devastating effect on the wildlife conservation efforts it funds. The repercussions for flora and fauna are far-reaching. Anything with a horn or tusk is at greater risk today than yesterday. The economic value of Africa’s national parks, reserves and conservancies is obvious. In 2019, tourism accounted for 7.1 percent of the GDP in Africa, generating $168 billion in revenue. Last year, Kenya, the continent’s fourth-largest tourism economy, welcomed more than 2 million visitors. The sector contributes 15 percent of Namibia’s GDP and sustains 115,000 jobs, which represents 16 percent of total employment in the country. The resultant revenue that is generated helps boost biodiversity. In Tanzania, for example, where tourism comprises 11 percent of the economy, 35.5 percent of land and 13.5 percent of marine areas are now protected. This exceeds the goals of Aichi Target 11, set in 2010 by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. However, few policymakers anticipated, much less prepared for, a dramatic and sudden drop in tourism revenue. Most African reserves rely on daily entry fees to finance rangers and help protect habitat and wildlife. None of them has adequate financial reserves, endowments, or insurance to counteract a massive decline in tourism. In the best of times, African parks — which offer visitors attractions such as vast savannas or deserts, herds of regal elephants and the fleeting glimpse of a big cat — are not a hard sell. Protection of these awe-inspiring natural resources is strongest when the proceeds of park tourism are leveraged to boost local economies and finance livelihood programs for nearby communities. But conservation is not easy. Sustaining wildlife amid shifting economic realities requires sophisticated monitoring technologies and adaptive approaches to management. The economics of wildlife reserves are somewhat opaque, and few tourists understand how significant their visit is to the business models of parks and reserves. At least half their revenue — in some cases all of it — comes from tourism. The money is used to protect wildlife by funding operating costs, employing rangers and maintaining security. These places are the economic lifeblood of the regions they serve. Many also support local schools and health clinics, and offer employment in nature-based jobs to local people who might otherwise end up working in charcoal production or bushmeat hunting. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, wildlife conservation was improving. There had been a reduction in poaching, particularly for elephant ivory, according to a 2019 study in scientific journal Nature Communications. However, global lockdowns have led to canceled bookings, postponed tours and a free-fall in employment, leaving many people who rely on the parks for work struggling to meet their basic needs. As a result of the pandemic, for example, the World Bank expects Kenya’s economic growth to drop to 1.5 percent this year, after forecasting 6 percent growth as recently as January. Desperate times can lead to more criminal activity, which in these areas translates as an increase in poaching of ivory and rhino horn. Despite enforcement crackdowns, the trade in animal parts remains the fourth-largest illicit global industry, after the trafficking of drugs, weapons and humans. As household incomes fall and people struggle to afford food, wildlife also faces the threat of bushmeat poaching for local consumption. This was supposed to be a “super year” for biodiversity. Instead, the world is facing a shocking, real-time need for action. That is why The Nature Conservancy and other environmental NGOs are calling for 30 percent of the Earth’s surface to be protected by 2030, through the so-called 30x30 commitment. But reaching a particular threshold will mean little without long-term enforcement and sustainable funding. To build a world in which humans “do no harm” and create spaces for nature to flourish, a broad swath of private protected areas — such as forests that are lightly, sustainably logged, and protected marine areas that allow only small-scale, sustainable fishing — will also be needed. Such diversification is necessary to ensure fiscal and environmental health. There is a danger that the current crisis will set back the progress made in conservation in recent decades. Governments, NGOs and private wildlife conservancies must find ways to keep rangers employed and patrols operating, so that enforcement operations are maintained in protected areas. When the virus abates and tourism gradually begins to recover, we cannot be held hostage to inadequate revenue streams. One option is carbon financing. Some communities in northern Tanzania and Zambia — which have millions of tons of carbon stored in forests, grasslands and soil — calculate and verify their totals, then sell them to businesses on international markets as carbon credits. As long as forests and grasslands remain intact, the money will continue to flow to local communities. One project in the Luangwa Valley in Zambia, for example, is expected to channel $2.6 million a year to communities. In northern Tanzania, Hadza hunter-gatherers use the money to hire rangers to stop charcoal poachers, and to pay medical bills and school fees. Global lockdowns have led to canceled bookings, postponed tours and a free-fall in employment, leaving many people who rely on the parks for work struggling to meet their basic needs. Matthew Brown There are other innovative funding models. The government of the Seychelles, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, pioneered debt-conversion deals for marine conservation. In the private sector, green bonds and blue bonds (to finance maritime conservation efforts), or low-interest, green loans are helping to fund biodiversity-enhancing initiatives. Another approach is to create and enforce regulations that require industries to offset the environmental degradation or harm they cause to ecosystems. We should rethink subsidies for fishing and farming, too. Despite its ubiquity, travel and hospitality has always been a fragile, fickle sector. Political extremism, terrorism, global pandemics and volcanoes are just a few of the reasons why tourism is not always a stable revenue stream. Still, there is no reason why we cannot deliver net gains for nature. The continent of Africa, its inhabitants and the world depend on it. Matthew Brown is Africa Director at The Nature Conservancy. 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