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COVID-19 and protected areas: Impacts, conflicts, and possible management solutions.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Jones, Nikoleta 
McGinlay, James 
Jones, Angela 
Malesios, Chrisovalantis 
Holtvoeth, Jens 

Abstract

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, management authorities of numerous Protected Areas (PAs) had to discourage visitors from accessing them in order to reduce the virus transmission rate and protect local communities. This resulted in social-ecological impacts and added another layer of complexity to managing PAs. This paper presents the results of a survey in Snowdonia National Park capturing the views of over 700 local residents on the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions and possible scenarios and tools for managing tourist numbers. Lower visitor numbers were seen in a broadly positive way by a significant number of respondents while benefit sharing issues from tourism also emerged. Most preferred options to manage overcrowding were restricting access to certain paths, the development of mobile applications to alert people to overcrowding and reporting irresponsible behavior. Our findings are useful for PA managers and local communities currently developing post-COVID-19 recovery strategies.

Description

Keywords

Wales, biodiversity conservation, lockdown, overcrowding, protected areas management, social impacts, visitors

Journal Title

Conserv Lett

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1755-263X
1755-263X

Volume Title

Publisher

Wiley

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
European Research Council (802605)
Financial support was provided by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research programme (Project FIDELIO, grant agreement no. 802605) (https://www.fidelio.landecon.cam.ac.uk).