Sustainable forestry and fisheries resources management in the context of Coronavirus pandemic in Africa

Abstract

Apart from serving as veritable sources of livelihood, forest and fisheries resources are central to the provision of nutritious food and raw materials, most especially in Africa. However, the global impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has negative implication for sustainable exploitation and use of these resources in sub-Saharan Africa. Sustainable natural resources management had been submitted as key to overcoming covid-19 pandemic effect without suffering any loss in Africa. This chapter therefore reviewed the extant economic and social hardships, which the pandemic is provoking in the aquaculture, fisheries and forestry sectors with the view to formulating and maintaining sustainable natural resources and ecosystems protection agenda within the whims of Africa countries. The paper reported forest and fisheries resources as safety nets for meeting food shortages, essential health products, clean water and other natural products, most especially in rural Africa. It identified the nature nurturing services and utilities derived from forest products as under threat from Covid-19 induced pressure from urban residents’ reliance on forests as food safety nets. impacts of the pandemic on Africa’s fisheries and aquaculture sector were also reported to include reduction in the demand for her products from the hospitality, restaurant and catering (HORECA) sector; stagnant activity in the fish export market, price hike in the local fish markets and contamination of marine resources through human infection.

The paper therefore recommends the application of sustainable aquaculture, fisheries and forest resources management tools for resilience and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa. Such tools, it emphasized must tap from policy recommendations based on in-depth understanding of the multi-stakeholder nature of the sector and make use of available financial and human resources efficiently.