Covid-19 and outdoor recreation management: Increased participation, connection to nature, and a look to climate adaptation

Ecotourism and mangrove conservation in Southeast Asia: Current trends and perspectives

Mangroves in Southeast Asia provide numerous supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural services that are crucial to the environment and local livelihoods since they support biodiversity conservation and climate change resilience. However, Southeast Asia mangroves face deforestation threats from the expansion of commercial aquaculture, agriculture, and urban development, along with climate change-related natural processes. Ecotourism has gained prominence as a financial incentive tool to support mangrove conservation and restoration. Through a systematic literature review approach, we examined the relationships between ecotourism and mangrove conservation in Southeast Asia based on scientific papers published from 2010 to 2022. Most of the studies were reported in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, respectively, which were associated with the highest number of vibrant mangrove ecotourism sites and largest mangrove areas compared to the other countries of Southeast Asia. Mangrove-related ecotourism activities in the above countries mainly include boat tours, bird and wildlife watching, mangrove planting, kayaking, eating seafood, and snorkeling. The economic benefits, such as an increase in income associated with mangrove ecotourism, have stimulated infrastructural development in ecotourism destinations. Local communities benefited from increased access to social amenities such as clean water, electricity, transportation networks, schools, and health services that are intended to make destinations more attractive to tourists. Economic benefits from mangrove ecotourism motivated the implementation of several community-based mangrove conservation and restoration initiatives, which attracted international financial incentives and public-private partnerships. Since mangroves are mostly located on the land occupied by indigenous people and local communities, ensuring respect for their land rights and equity in economic benefit sharing may increase their intrinsic motivation and participation in mangrove restoration and conservation initiatives. Remote sensing tools for mangrove monitoring, evaluation, and reporting, and integrated education and awareness campaigns can ensure the long-term conservation of mangroves while sustaining ecotourism's economic infrastructure and social amenities benefits.

Experiences of People with Cardiovascular Disease during COVID-19 in Sweden: A Qualitative Study

Although people with cardiovascular conditions were subjected to more rigorous restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is limited knowledge of how the restrictions affected their lives and well-being. Thus, the aim of this study was to describe how people with cardiovascular conditions experienced their life situation and physical and mental health during the second wave of the pandemic in Sweden. Fifteen participants (median age 69 years; nine women) were individually interviewed, and data were analyzed with systematic text condensation. The findings revealed that some of the participants were fearful of contracting COVID-19 as their medical condition made them vulnerable. Additionally, the restrictions changed their daily routines and their ability to take part in social activities, as well as their access to specialized outpatient care (medical check-ups and physiotherapy). Although emotional and psychological distress were present, several participants found strategies that reduced their worries, such as exercising and meeting friends outdoors. However, some had adopted a more sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diets. These findings indicate that healthcare professionals should provide individualized support to persons with cardiovascular diseases in order to find well-functioning emotion- and problem-focused strategies aimed at improving physical and mental health during crises such as pandemics.

Climate change adaptation measures conflicted with the recreational demands on city forests during COVID-19 pandemic

Recurrent droughts in southwest Germany threaten the city and community-owned forests (CCF). At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for recreation in CCF of southwest Germany. We interviewed stakeholders from different interest groups to critically analyze their opinion on how the high recreation demand on CCF due to the pandemic can be ensured along with implementing climate change adaptation measures in CCF in Karlsruhe, Germany. We found that stakeholders particularly highlighted the importance of the recreational function of the CCF during the pandemic. However, the behavior of visitors was criticized by the stakeholders. We showed that demand for the recreational use of CCF conflicted with climate change adaptation measures such as sanitary and forest restoration actions, creating a dilemma among stakeholders. Therefore, enhancing citizens' knowledge of forests' recreation functions and the need for climate change adaptation through communication and education should be prioritized.

The nature of the pandemic: Exploring the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic upon recreation visitor behaviors and experiences in parks and protected areas

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically affected parks and protected areas and overall recreation visitation across the United States. While outdoor recreation has been demonstrated to be beneficial, especially during a pandemic, the resulting increase in recreation visitation raises concerns regarding the broader influence of social, situational, ecological, and behavioral factors upon overall visitor experiences. This study investigated the extent to which recreation visitors' behaviors and experiences have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic within the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF). A modified drop-off pick-up survey method was employed to collect population-level data from WMNF visitors from June to August of 2020 (n=317), at the height of the pandemic. Results from this mixed-method study suggest social factors (e.g., crowding and conflict), situational factors (e.g., access and closures), ecological factors (e.g., vegetation damage), behavioral factors (e.g., substitution), and sociodemographic factors (e.g., gender and income) significantly influenced overall visitor decision-making and experience quality within the WMNF. For example, more than one-third of visitors indicated the pandemic had either a major or severe impact upon their WMNF recreation experience. A more nuanced investigation of qualitative data determined that the majority of pandemic-related recreation impacts revolved around the themes of social impacts, general negative recreation impacts, situational and ecological impacts, and behavioral adaptation impacts. Moreover, historically marginalized populations (e.g., low-income households and females) within the sample reported significantly higher recreation experience impacts during the pandemic. This study demonstrates the influence of the pandemic upon outdoor recreation visitor experiences and behaviors and considers outdoor recreation as a central component within the broader social-ecological systems framework. This study demonstrates the influence of the pandemic upon outdoor recreation visitor experiences and behaviors and considers resource users a central component within the broader social-ecological systems conceptual framework.

Management implications

This study found that during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, social, situational, ecological, behavioral, and sociodemographic factors significantly influenced overall visitor decision-making andexperience quality:· Social and general recreation impacts were most common, with approximately 56% of the sample reporting these issues.· Results suggest significant crowding and conflict impacts stemmed from interactions between in-state and out-of-state visitors, largely based upon perceived violations of pandemic protocols.· Moreover, historically marginalized populations stated unique recreation impacts during the pandemic. For instance, visitors from low-income households reported significantly less substitution options as opposed to high-income visitors.· Female visitors perceived significantly more pandemic-related conflict than male visitors.Study findings suggest visitor crowding and conflict should be prioritized by resource managers, especially amongst historically marginalized populations. Resource managers should consider adopting a broader social-ecological systems approach to parks and protected areas management, particularly during a global pandemic.

Covid-19 and outdoor recreation - Lessons learned? Introduction to the special issue on "Outdoor recreation and Covid-19: Its effects on people, parks and landscapes"

The special issue presents international experiences with COVID-19 in the years 2020 and 2021 on outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism. To set the scene, a bibliometric and qualitative analysis illustrates and clusters recent publications on COVID-19. Against this background contributions from Japan, China, Brazil, Indonesia, Austria, Croatia, the United States, New Zealand, Taiwan, Australia, Sweden, Poland and Ireland draw a truly international picture of the pandemic crisis, the effects, coping behavior and related strategies. The papers contribute to the COVID-19 related research by documenting the shock in the field of outdoor recreation and tourism, by understanding the immediate consequences on behavior and the required managerial consequences and finally, by analyzing the possible follow up effects including long term effects, discussing resilient solutions and proposing new strategies. In the discussion section we try to answer the questions whether the high visitation rate in recreation facilities, forests, parks and protected areas will remain, and whether adapted visitor management concepts will be required. In addition, we discuss possible implications for urban planning and management. Finally, based on a changing connectedness to nature also possible positive effects by the pandemic are discussed which may lead to a new target group in outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism.

Management implications

The overview on the Covid-19 related literature suggests improvements in planning and management, such as-new concepts for destination and visitor management, considering an ongoing risk-management,-proactive urban planning and management considering short-term effects in the existing built environment as well as a long-term perspective with strategically planned green infrastructure, including not only the supply of green infrastructure, but also its accessibility, its amenities, and aspects of environmental justice,-the consideration of new target groups in tourism and outdoor recreation.

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the popularity of protected areas for mountain biking and hiking in Australia: Insights from volunteered geographic information

Although the popularity of protected areas for recreation has been increasing, short term changes in visitation occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. To examine how volunteer geographic information data can be used to monitor such often rapid changes in visitation across multiple locations, data from online fitness platforms for mountain biking (Trailforks) and remote area hiking (Wikiloc) were analysed before (2019) and during (2020-2021) the COVID-19 pandemic for 40 protected areas in Queensland, Australia. Mountain biking was popular with a total of 93,311 routes on Trailforks, with 26,936 routes in 2019, increasing to 37,406 in 2020, and then decreasing to 28,969 in 2021. Approximately 66% of all the routes were from just three urban protected areas out of the 12 with route data. There were 4367 routes for remote area hiking on Wikiloc across 36 protected areas, which increased slightly from 1081 in 2019, to 1421 in 2020 and to 1865 in 2021. Across 18 factors, distance from urban areas and networks of mountain biking trails best predicted popularity for mountain biking based on Generalised Linear Models. In contrast, average slope and large networks of hiking trails best predicted hiking, with similar results for each year. The two sources of online data were correlated with trail counter data, although not consistently. The results highlight how external factors affect visitation, but also how the same types of protected areas remained popular, and that the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on visitation in South-East Queensland protected areas was less dramatic than for other regions. This study further highlights how volunteered geographic information can be used to assess the popularity of protected areas, including in rapidly changing conditions.

Management implications

Rapid changes in visitation can be challenging to monitor and manage, as occurred with the COVID-19 pandemic. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mountain biking and hiking and factors predicting protected area popularity were examined across different parks. Visitation increased at different stages of the pandemic, with mountain bikers' preferring urban parks with networks of mountain bike trails while some hikers preferred more remote large parks. Managers can expand on traditional methods of visitor monitoring by using volunteered geographic information to monitor rapid and longer-term trends of visitation to protected areas.

Changes in visits to green spaces due to the COVID-19 pandemic: Focusing on the proportion of repeat visitors and the distances between green spaces and visitors' places of residences

Through a quantitative approach, this study aimed to clarify the changes in the number of visitors and visits to green spaces according to green space type before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We explored the changes in the proportion of repeat visitors and the distance between green spaces and visitors' places of residence. We used KDDI Location Analyzer, which performs novel analysis using mobile phone GPS and census data. The study area included 10 target sites (urban parks and nature trails in the backcountry) located in the Sapporo metropolitan area in Japan. The survey period included snow-free seasons from 2019 to 2021, and 2019 was considered the period "before the pandemic." The results revealed that the number of visits during the pandemic increased compared with those before the pandemic, except for those of urban parks near the city center. In 2020, the proportion of repeat visitors increased for all 10 target sites. In addition, since the outbreak of the pandemic, distances between all urban parks and visitors' residences decreased. The same trend was observed for nature trails in the backcountry close to the city center. These findings indicate a generally decreasing trend in the number of visits to green spaces as many people have been refraining from visiting the site since the outbreak of the pandemic. Contrastingly, the number of visits by repeat visitors who reside close to the target sites has increased in some cases, which compensated for the general decreases.

Outdoor recreation and the private forest owner: Place attachment, social values, and public access

Introduction

The Swedish National Forest Program emphasizes that the forest can be more multifunctional where the values created by human experiences of the forest, i.e., social values, can be used for tourism and outdoor recreation, leading to rural development and sustainable growth. To develop multifunctional forests in this respect, private forest owners' perspectives on development are critically important. For example, the place attachment of the private forest owners affects how they manage their forests. Therefore, it is crucial to consider private forest owners' perspectives when planning land use.

Method

The study area is a region in southwest Sweden (Hallandsås) designated as a national interest area for outdoor recreation. There is interest in expanding and developing nature-based tourism, including trail systems, based on the perception of the areas as having great outdoor recreation value. This article aims to present findings from a study that investigated the potential for outdoor recreation development in the forests of Hallandsås. A questionnaire was sent out to private forest owners, which contained questions about social values, perspectives on the Swedish right of public access, development of outdoor recreation, and place attachment.

Results

The results showed that private forest owners considered health, well-being, and a good living environment the most important social values of their forested lands. The identity and cultural heritage value of private forest lands and the value of working on the land were the second and third most highly identified forest social values. Outdoor recreation was not identified as a top forest social value.

Discussion

The analysis identified seven key factors that must be considered with outdoor recreation development, given concerns and the importance of other forest social values. Careful consideration of these factors and their interactions can provide a path for outdoor recreation development that is respectful to people and places. This consideration is at the core of landscape protection and management as interpreted by the European Landscape Convention. Forest owners' social values are a critical part of landscape quality objectives, along with planning that links public aspirations with landscape character.

Tourism as a Tool in Nature-Based Mental Health: Progress and Prospects Post-Pandemic

The healthcare sector recognises the role of nature in mental health. The tourism sector is equipped to take people to national parks. The conservation sector gains support from visitors. Theoretical frameworks for mental health benefits from nature tourism include: tourism destinations and activities; tourist personalities and life histories; sensory and emotional components of tourist experiences; and intensity and duration of memories. Mental health deteriorated worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recovery of global economic productivity requires immediate, accessible, affordable mental health measures at national scales, and nature-based approaches provide the best option. Different countries have adopted a variety of public, private, or voluntary mechanisms. Some focus on design of activities, others on provision of facilities. Costs and implementation depend on key research questions: marginal benefits of nature tour guides or psychologists compared to self-guided nature experiences; comparisons between repeated brief visits and one-off nature holidays; effects of biodiversity, flagship species, and scenic or wilderness quality; and differences between individuals, depending on personalities, life histories, and mental health status and symptoms.

Analysis of pandemic outdoor recreation and green infrastructure in Nordic cities to enhance urban resilience

Recent empirical research has confirmed the importance of green infrastructure and outdoor recreation to urban people's well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, only a few studies provide cross-city analyses. We analyse outdoor recreation behaviour across four Nordic cities ranging from metropolitan areas to a middle-sized city. We collected map-based survey data from residents (n = 469-4992) in spring 2020 and spatially analyse green infrastructure near mapped outdoor recreation sites and respondents' places of residence. Our statistical examination reveals how the interplay among access to green infrastructure across cities and at respondents' residential location, together with respondents' socio-demographic profiles and lockdown policies or pandemic restrictions, affects outdoor recreation behaviour. The results highlight that for pandemic resilience, the history of Nordic spatial planning is important. To support well-being in exceptional situations as well as in the long term, green infrastructure planning should prioritise nature wedges in and close to cities and support small-scale green infrastructure.

Whether They Return: Modeling Outdoor Recreation Behaviors, Decision Making, and Intention-to-Return in Congressionally Designated Wilderness

Visitation to parks and protected areas (PPAs) has become increasingly widespread in the United States. This increased visitation is especially concerning within congressionally designated wilderness areas where federal agencies are tasked with the dual mandate of preserving wilderness character while simultaneously providing high-quality outdoor recreation experiences. This study investigated the influence of social, situational, and ecological factors on outdoor recreation visitor behaviors and decision making within the Lye Brook Congressionally Designated Wilderness (LBW) area in Vermont, USA. An on-site intercept survey (n = 576) was employed to collect data from LBW visitors in the summer of 2021. Descriptive and multi-variate statistics (e.g., binary logistic regression, structural equation modeling) indicated that visitor behaviors (e.g., coping, substitution) and decision-making (e.g., intention-to-return) were significantly influenced by social (e.g., conflict), situational (e.g., litter, access), and ecological (e.g., trail conditions, weather) impacts. Moreover, the presence of various weather conditions was found to significantly influence the severity of perceived social, situational, and ecological impacts. Study results indicated that outdoor recreation experiences are multifaceted, necessitating a suite of social, situational, and ecological considerations, especially when examining the relationship between visitor coping behaviors and intention-to-return. This research advances the coping framework, provides empirical support for future examination of social–ecological system (SES) theory, and emphasizes the utility of employing an adaptive systems approach for sustainable PPA management.

Is Outdoor Recreation Associated with Greater Climate Change Concern in the United States?

There has been extensive research on the association between environmental attitudes and outdoor recreation (or nature-based leisure activities) since the 1970s. There is now considerable evidence to support the claim that spending time in nature leads to greater connectedness to nature and thereby greater pro-environmental attitudes and behavior. However, there is an absence of research focused specifically on the association between outdoor recreation and concern for climate change, which is arguably the most pressing environmental problem facing the world today. We build on previous research by using the 2021 General Social Survey and structural equation modeling to analyze the association between frequency of engaging in outdoor recreation and concern for climate change among adults in the United States, with special attention to the role of enjoying being in nature. Controlling for other factors, we find that frequency of outdoor recreation has a positive, significant effect on climate change concern, but only indirectly via enjoyment of nature. Individuals who more frequently engage in outdoor recreation activities tend to report a greater sense of enjoyment of being outside in nature, and this enjoyment of nature is associated with a higher level of concern for climate change.

The Central Arizona Conservation Alliance Programs: Use of Social Media and App-Supported Community Science for Landscape-Scale Habitat Restoration, Governance Support, and Community Resilience-Building

Land managers are currently faced with a nexus of challenges, both ecological and social, when trying to govern natural open spaces. While social media has led to many challenges for effective land management and governance, the technology has the potential to support key activities related to habitat restoration, awareness-raising for policy changes, and increased community resilience as the impacts of increased use and climate change become more apparent. Through the use of a case study examining the work of the Central Arizona Conservation Alliance’s social media ambassadorship and its app-supported community science projects, we examine the potential and realized positive impact that technology such as social media and smartphone apps can create for land managers and surrounding communities.