Watching over elephants at Kruger National Park, South Africa. - Copyright Unsplash By • Updated: 20/05/2021 - 07:01 When COVID-19 was first declared a global pandemic in March 2020, the daily lives of millions around the world changed practically overnight. For those working tirelessly to protect national parks and conservation areas, this presented huge challenges. Visitor centres and tourist schemes that brought vital revenue had to be closed. Emergency wildlife incidents, such as poaching, were more difficult to prevent and investigate. Community education had to be stopped as limits were placed on who we could meet and where we could go. In Africa, barely 20 per cent of countries believed they could continue with anything more than basic operations in protected and conserved areas (PCAs) for more than six months. While some saw positives from fewer visitors and reduced pollution, a vast majority reported that their capacity to cope with the pandemic was being impacted by a lack of funding.