Table 2.

Study participants’ responses to socio-economic and ecological effects of the pandemic on eco-tourism in the area.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected tourism in this area as well as your social and economic lives?
Theme	Direct quotes of participants
The collapse of the local economy (n = 16)	•Larabanga is at a standstill. There's virtually no commercial activity here •Tourism is equal to Larabanga and Larabanga is equal to tourism •Because of the pandemic, there are no tourists here and so the town is quiet
The closure of businesses and loss of livelihoods (n = 21)	•We are struggling to find buyers for our yams and the yams are going bad •We had to lay-off most of our employees •We had to close down the Mole National Park between 23/03/2020 and 07/08/2020 •I have been out of business since the Park closed down
Decline in social activities (n = 17)	•Because of the President's directive of no social gatherings, we couldn't celebrate the Fire and Damba festivals •Marriage and naming ceremonies have been suspended since the pandemic •We are unable to have Islamic community prayers because we have to observe social distancing
Decline in tourism activities (n = 21)	•Indeed, the number of tourists has drastically reduced since the pandemic started •Our major source of income as an eco-village has been from international tourists but since the pandemic, we have not received any guests •Suddenly, individuals and groups started cancelling their [accommodation] bookings with our facility
Increase in patrols has reduced illegal activities in Park and enhanced the conservation of the Park's resources (n = 1)	•With the closure of the Park, more staff were recalled from tour duties to law enforcement which helped reduce illegal activities

Source: Authors' fieldwork (2020).