Thomson Reuters Foundation
May 21, 2020
[…] Now, lockdowns and other measures worldwide to contain the virus are hampering efforts to conserve traditional food crops like those Wanjama wants to save, as well as forests, wetlands and their native species, scientists and environmentalists say.
Green groups and international organisations had billed 2020 as a "super year" for the biodiversity of the planet's plants and animals, as new global agreements were due to be sealed.
But key U.N. negotiations have been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic which many environmentalists blame, at least partly, on a failure to protect nature that has facilitated the transition of viruses from animals to humans.
Meanwhile, a relaxation of surveillance and monitoring in many countries has led to more poaching and illegal, unregulated fishing, said ecologist Sandra Diaz.