Biodiversity conservation cannot afford COVID-19 communication bungles

Emily A Gregg; Alexander M Kusmanoff; Georgia E Garrard; Lindall R Kidd; Sarah A Bekessy

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2021.07.003

Biodiversity conservation cannot afford COVID-19 communication bungles

Trends Ecol Evol. 2021 Oct;36(10):879-882. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.07.003. Epub 2021 Jul 12.

Authors

Emily A Gregg¹, Alexander M Kusmanoff², Georgia E Garrard³, Lindall R Kidd², Sarah A Bekessy²

Affiliations

¹ ICON Science Research Group, School of Global, Urban, and Social Studies, RMIT University, GPO Box 3476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia. Electronic address: emily.gregg@rmit.edu.au.
² ICON Science Research Group, School of Global, Urban, and Social Studies, RMIT University, GPO Box 3476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia.
³ ICON Science Research Group, School of Global, Urban, and Social Studies, RMIT University, GPO Box 3476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia; School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia.

Abstract

With COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) dominating headlines, highlighting links between the pandemic and biodiversity may increase public awareness of the biodiversity crisis. However, ill-considered messages that frame nature as the problem rather than the solution could inadvertently propagate problematic narratives and undermine motivations and individual self-efficacy to conserve nature.

Keywords: Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; conservation messaging; message framing; narratives; pandemic; public engagement.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biodiversity
COVID-19*
Communication
Conservation of Natural Resources
Ecosystem
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2