COVID-19, systemic crisis, and possible implications for the wild meat trade in sub-Saharan Africa

Wild animals play an integral and complex role in the economies and ecologies of many countries across the globe, including those of West and Central Africa, the focus of this policy perspective. The trade in wild meat, and its role in diets, have been brought into focus as a consequence of discussions over the origins of COVID-19. As a result, there have been calls for the closure of China’s “wet markets”; greater scrutiny of the wildlife trade in general; and a spotlight has been placed on the potential risks posed by growing human populations and shrinking natural habitats for animal to human transmission of zoonotic diseases. However, to date there has been little attention given to what the consequences of the COVID-19 economic shock may be for the wildlife trade; the people who rely on it for their livelihoods; and the wildlife that is exploited. In this policy perspective, we argue that the links between the COVID-19 pandemic, rural livelihoods and wildlife are likely to be more complex, more nuanced, and more far-reaching, than is represented in the literature to date. We develop a causal model that tracks the likely implications for the wild meat trade of the systemic crisis triggered by COVID-19. We focus on the resulting economic shockwave, as manifested in the collapse in global demand for commodities such as oil, and international tourism services, and what this may mean for local African economies and livelihoods. We trace the shockwave through to the consequences for the use of, and demand for, wild meats as households respond to these changes. We suggest that understanding and predicting the complex dynamics of wild meat use requires increased collaboration between environmental and resource economics and the ecological and conservation sciences

The role of regional trading blocks in the development and management of tourism: an analysis of the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The establishment of regional trading blocs is considered an important aspect of the process of economic and political globalisation. Focusing on the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, this paper considers whether the involvement of regional trading blocs in tourism is desirable and if so, what form future participation might take. Based on the findings from two qualitative studies, examples of best practice are identified and recommendations are made. Greater co-operation over facilitating tourist movement and crisis management are suggested, but it is concluded that ultimately, the relevance of regional trading blocs in tourism needs further endorsement by the member states

The sustainability of using domestic tourism as a post-COVID-19 recovery strategy in a distressed destination

Tourism is a critical contributor to the gross domestic product, especially among developing countries like Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a tourist destination that relies more on international travellers, a market which has been affected by the novel coronavirus. The purpose of this study is to establish the perceptions of domestic travellers and tourism managers on the sustainability of using domestic tourism as strategic responses to the impacts of the coronavirus. This study employs a qualitative methodology to examine the perceptions of the demand and supply side regarding the recovery options for Zimbabwean tourism post-pandemic. Online interviews with demand and supply participants were conducted. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, and the results were discussed. Results show that domestic tourism as a recovery option is unsustainable due to the challenges that Zimbabwe is facing, beyond the coronavirus

The nature of Op Art: Bridget Riley and the art of nonrepresentation

The monochrome paintings of the British Op artist Bridget Riley produced between 1960 and 1965, in common with a number of experimental arts and media practices of the 1960s, were characterised by a drift away from traditional representational techniques towards what are now described as nonrepresentational practices. The dynamics of the Op Art aesthetic and the critical writings that surround it bear striking similarities to much recent work on nonrepresentational thought. Based upon an engagement with Riley s early work and specifically the perception and understanding of nature it engendered, an argument can be made that suggests that despite claims to the contrary, Riley was engaged in a form of representational practice that rendered a new and fashionable understanding of cosmic nature. The multi-dimensional nature evoked in her aesthetic was designed to be experienced by the viewer in a precognitive, embodied fashion. In this there are strong echoes with the call made by nonrepresentational theorists who operationalise the same kind of cosmology to develop an evocative, creative account of the world. Both Op Art and nonrepresentational thought seem to build upon a shift in the representational register that occurred during the immediate post-war period, one which prompted representational practices which attempted to subjectify rather than objectify, to evoke instability and multi-dimensionality, and to exercise not only visual, oral and cognitive ways of knowing, but also the precognitive and the haptic. The complex co-relations between representation and nonrepresentation are apparent here, suggesting that it is problematic to emphasise one side of the duality over the other