Conservation in crisis: ecotourism collapse threatens communities and wildlife

From Kenya to the Seychelles, coronavirus has dealt a devastating blow to efforts to protect endangered wildlife

• How Covid-19 could push mountain gorillas back to the brink

From the vast plains of the Masai Mara in Kenya to the delicate corals of the Aldabra atoll in the Seychelles, conservation work to protect some of the world's most important ecosystems is facing crisis following a collapse in ecotourism during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Organisations that depend on visitors to fund projects for critically endangered species and rare habitats could be forced to close, according to wildlife NGOs, after border closures and worldwide travel restrictions abruptly halted millions of pounds of income from tourism.