Insights on COVID-19 impacts, challenges and opportunities for India’s biodiversity research: from complexity to building adaptations

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every sphere of human society. The paradigm shift of focus to COVID-related research and management has significantly affected various scientific domains, including biodiversity conservation. We assessed the perceptions of early-career researchers working for biodi...

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Үндсэн зохиолчид: Ghosh, R, Dhyani, S, Kumar, B, Sinha, N, Raghavan, R, Selvaraj, G, Divakar, N, Anoop, VK, Shalu, K, Sinha, A, Das, S, Kulkarni, AU, Molur, S
Формат: Journal article
Хэл сонгох:English
Хэвлэсэн: Elsevier 2021
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author Ghosh, R
Dhyani, S
Kumar, B
Sinha, N
Raghavan, R
Selvaraj, G
Divakar, N
Anoop, VK
Shalu, K
Sinha, A
Das, S
Kulkarni, AU
Molur, S
author_facet Ghosh, R
Dhyani, S
Kumar, B
Sinha, N
Raghavan, R
Selvaraj, G
Divakar, N
Anoop, VK
Shalu, K
Sinha, A
Das, S
Kulkarni, AU
Molur, S
author_sort Ghosh, R
collection OXFORD
description The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every sphere of human society. The paradigm shift of focus to COVID-related research and management has significantly affected various scientific domains, including biodiversity conservation. We assessed the perceptions of early-career researchers working for biodiversity conservation across India, to understand the impacts of the ongoing pandemic on their research. We administered an online questionnaire survey to 565 respondents, who identified four key areas that are affected by the pandemic: (1) research, (2) conservation (3) education, and (4) communication and networking. Respondents (89.2%) perceived that their fieldwork, followed by travel for meetings and funding were the most affected due to COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown. Nonetheless, responses on the impact varied between different professional categories and were disproportionate. Our study highlights that majority of the respondents (80%) advocate for stakeholder-driven policies and management practices as the most effective strategy to promote biodiversity conservation, in the post-COVID-19 world. To this end, as a post-pandemic response, we propose holistic solutions such as optimising research funding and collaborations, and supporting and strengthening them by citizen science and big data analytics. Our findings and recommendations will also serve as a paradigm for post- COVID-19 biodiversity policy, advocacy and implementation of the post 2020 biodiversity action plan that supports eco civilization.
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spelling oxford-uuid:1d899a69-b955-4678-975d-8cd2efb609082022-03-26T11:11:27ZInsights on COVID-19 impacts, challenges and opportunities for India’s biodiversity research: from complexity to building adaptationsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:1d899a69-b955-4678-975d-8cd2efb60908EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2021Ghosh, RDhyani, SKumar, BSinha, NRaghavan, RSelvaraj, GDivakar, NAnoop, VKShalu, KSinha, ADas, SKulkarni, AUMolur, SThe COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every sphere of human society. The paradigm shift of focus to COVID-related research and management has significantly affected various scientific domains, including biodiversity conservation. We assessed the perceptions of early-career researchers working for biodiversity conservation across India, to understand the impacts of the ongoing pandemic on their research. We administered an online questionnaire survey to 565 respondents, who identified four key areas that are affected by the pandemic: (1) research, (2) conservation (3) education, and (4) communication and networking. Respondents (89.2%) perceived that their fieldwork, followed by travel for meetings and funding were the most affected due to COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown. Nonetheless, responses on the impact varied between different professional categories and were disproportionate. Our study highlights that majority of the respondents (80%) advocate for stakeholder-driven policies and management practices as the most effective strategy to promote biodiversity conservation, in the post-COVID-19 world. To this end, as a post-pandemic response, we propose holistic solutions such as optimising research funding and collaborations, and supporting and strengthening them by citizen science and big data analytics. Our findings and recommendations will also serve as a paradigm for post- COVID-19 biodiversity policy, advocacy and implementation of the post 2020 biodiversity action plan that supports eco civilization.
spellingShingle Ghosh, R
Dhyani, S
Kumar, B
Sinha, N
Raghavan, R
Selvaraj, G
Divakar, N
Anoop, VK
Shalu, K
Sinha, A
Das, S
Kulkarni, AU
Molur, S
Insights on COVID-19 impacts, challenges and opportunities for India’s biodiversity research: from complexity to building adaptations
title Insights on COVID-19 impacts, challenges and opportunities for India’s biodiversity research: from complexity to building adaptations
title_full Insights on COVID-19 impacts, challenges and opportunities for India’s biodiversity research: from complexity to building adaptations
title_fullStr Insights on COVID-19 impacts, challenges and opportunities for India’s biodiversity research: from complexity to building adaptations
title_full_unstemmed Insights on COVID-19 impacts, challenges and opportunities for India’s biodiversity research: from complexity to building adaptations
title_short Insights on COVID-19 impacts, challenges and opportunities for India’s biodiversity research: from complexity to building adaptations
title_sort insights on covid 19 impacts challenges and opportunities for india s biodiversity research from complexity to building adaptations
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