Horizon Scan: Reformulating Wildlife Trade Policy in Response to COVID-19

Are you aware of any policy responses that have been implemented or proposed to control the spread of COVID-19 and other zoonotic diseases through wildlife trade?

If so, please participate in our horizon scan!

Guidelines for Submissions

Speculation that COVID-19 was first transmitted to people from wildlife has had immediate impacts on global wildlife trade. As an attempt to contain further spread of the virus, there has been a global clampdown on wildlife trade. Amongst other measures, wildlife markets have been closed, bans on certain wildlife products are being enforced, and governments are proposing drastic changes to wildlife trade legislation.

We are developing a comprehensive database of policy options that have been implemented or proposed globally to control the spread of the virus through wildlife trade. We are also interested in assessing the acceptability of these policy options to the general public and the likely short- and long-term impacts these measures will have if/when implemented.

A horizon scan aims to identify emerging or developing issues that are likely to have large impacts over the coming years but are not yet receiving sufficient attention from practitioners, policymakers or academics. By working with people around the world with varied and diverse expertise to identify and assess wildlife trade policy proposals and responses to COVID-19, and the real and potential impacts of these policy responses, this horizon scan aims to inform future wildlife trade decision-making.

If you are aware of any policy responses that have been implemented or proposed to control the spread of COVID-19 through wildlife trade, please complete the following survey. The survey should not take more than 5-10 minutes of your time.

You can submit up to five policy responses. We expect submitted policy responses to reflect a range of scales, from broad and global options for regulating wildlife trade to specific and localised policies.

If you have any questions or feedback about this horizon scan, feel free to get in touch.


Note on Research Ethics and Data Storage

This project has been approved by the Research Ethics committee at the University of Birmingham. Our data storage and management processes meet GDPR compliance.

All survey responses collected through this project will be stored securely. Individual responses will not be identifiable in subsequent publications. This dataset will be used for academic research. An anonymised version of the dataset, excluding all personal information, may also be made available on our website and/or shared with other researchers. Email addresses are requested as part of this survey so that the research team can send summarised results and invitations to participate in Part II of the survey. Email addresses will not be shared with other parties.