ABSTRACT
Billions of people saw their lives dramatically altered in 2020/2021 as the novel coronavirus, SARS-Cov-2, spread rapidly, initiating a global pandemic. Physical distancing was the most deployed tactic to prevent interpersonal transmission, which led to a significant reduction in human mobilities and activities at an international—and yes, unprecedented—scale. As a consequence of this, large swathes of the public began to pay more attention to, seek out relations with, and show an interest in nature and the nonhuman world. Drawing on a range of empirical materials collected during the lockdown period, this chapter discusses the significance of these altered human-nature relations. From the proliferation of reactionary ‘nature is healing’ memes, to the flourishing of online birdwatching communities, to the efforts of some ecologists to collect data during the ‘COVID-19 Anthropause’, we discuss the diverse more-than-human geographies of lockdown life. We draw on digital ethnography, focus groups, large-scale surveys, interviews, and discourse analysis concerning a range of case studies from Sheffield to Chornobyl to critically analyse how these relationships, knowledges, and encounters might inform strategies for fostering post-pandemic more-than-human conviviality.
