This year amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, MPA News has been compiling related resources for our readers. Here is our latest collection:
Journal article
Opinion: Biodiversity conservation during a global crisis: Consequences and the way forward, PNAS 117 (48). The pandemic has shown that seemingly extreme solutions and their implementation, such as a mandatory lockdown of human activities for a specific duration, can result in rapid and visible changes in environmental variables. Such solutions, if repeated over time for conservation purposes, could play a role in helping to restore the planetary environment, or at least delay tipping points of future environmental crises.
Report
The environmental impacts of COVID-19: Perspectives from fishing communities. Published by COBI, this report reflects perceptions from 161 interviews (33 women, 128 men) about impacts of the pandemic on Mexico’s marine environment and economy. Roughly half of the interviewees live or work near an MPA. The report covers topics including MPA and fisheries management, waste management, and more. It is also available in Spanish.
Grants
BIOPAMA Rapid Response Grants are available to support protected areas (terrestrial and marine) facing the COVID-19 pandemic in African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries. The call is open until 31 December 2020. Maximum grant size is 50,000 euros with no co-financing required.
From The Skimmer (MPA News’ sister newsletter on sustainable ocean management)
How the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting marine ecosystems, Part 1: Fisheries and aquaculture, The Skimmer, April 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic, Part 2: Perspectives on the future of coastal and marine tourism and its implications for coastal and marine ecosystems, The Skimmer, May-July 2020
More on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting coastal and marine tourism and usage, The Skimmer, August-September 2020
Prior MPA News articles
MPAs, COVID-19, and the coming financial crisis: What impacts are practitioners already seeing, and how are they responding?, MPA News, May 2020
“Donors have started to shift funding to address other urgent and essential needs”: An interview with Markus Knigge of Blue Action Fund, MPA News, June 2020
“We need to be talking about innovation”: Insights from the World Economic Forum panel on MPAs and COVID-19, MPA News, June 2020
More resources on MPAs and COVID-19: Management challenges – How sites are coping – Instituting new user policies, MPA News, July-August 2020
More resources on MPAs and COVID-19: COVID and SDGs – Impacts on sites – Grants, MPA News, September-October 2020