The Eastern and Southern Africa region covers 24 countries from South Africa in the south to Sudan in the north and four of the six Western Indian Ocean island nations. The region is culturally diverse and extremely rich in biodiversity, with an abundance of spectacular wildlife, and many endemic species of flora and fauna. Considerable efforts are being made to conserve the biodiversity of the region, but growing human populations, land use conflict, overexploitation of resources, unsustainable recreational activities, deforestation and illegal trade are threatening protected areas, species and ecosystems. To add to these challenges, the current COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the shutdown of the tourism industry and therefore, a significant decrease in conservationrelated funding for the protected areas whose main revenue is tourism-based. The pandemic is exacerbating the gap in funding for protected areas and provides a harsh reminder of the need for revenue diversification.