After the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of people went out in search of a place to unwind, coming ?increasingly? to public parks in San Francisco, causing risks to the wildlife that inhabits them.
In 2020 and 2021 alone, there was a five-fold increase in the number of visitors to the 73 parks that make up the East Bay Regional Park District ?EBRPD, for its acronym in English?.
And it is that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the parks have become an attraction that has generated a record number of visitors.
“We have a lot of people who are going to the parks, they are going into the parks as their only way out and with all of that we are bringing all of our cultural learning, our resources, our prejudices,” said Dee Rosario, a member of the Board of Directors representing District 2 of the EBRPD.
This was stated during a press conference offered by Ethnic Media Services where experts met to discuss the risks posed by the large number of visitors in the parks and the measures that must be taken to protect wildlife in them.
Rosario pointed out that the EBRPD must take into account the different cultures that enter the parks in order to create measures that protect nature.
"These are our lands, they belong to each one of us, with that responsibility we have to take charge, we share these lands and we must also take charge of caring for those lands," he stressed.
For her part, Becky Tuden, manager of Ecological Services in the EBRPD Administration Department, pointed out that sometimes people release their pets, insects and even turtles, which puts the wild environment of the parks at risk.
He also warned that people sometimes feed wildlife in parks irresponsibly, which can drive them wild, endangering even visitors. He also pointed out that little control of invasive plants increases the risk of fires.
"There are many impacts and we want to minimize them, enjoy the parks, take care of them and protect them," he pointed out.
He also noted the importance of informing communities about the need to protect parks.
At the time, Doug Bell, director of the EBRPD Wildlife Program, pointed out the importance of not feeding wildlife when visiting parks or releasing animals there, as these actions cause the appearance of invasive species and diseases that also affect the environment. .
And it is that species such as the western snowy plover have been affected, as visitors come to ignore the signs that warn them to stay away from the areas where they are concentrated to rest or reproduce.
Joe Sullivan, director of the EBRPD Fisheries Program, noted that the release of pet fish and turtles has a major impact on aquatic life.
“People release a turtle that they no longer want to care for or the fish in their house and that has an impact on aquatic life? We find people releasing their pets or doing ceremonial releases, there are several religious communities that release fish as part of their religion," Sullivan said, emphasizing that these actions can cause disease in native species, causing them to die.
"Give wildlife their space," Bell concluded.
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