Nature’s Role in Supporting Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Geospatial and Socioecological Study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented changes to human lifestyles across the world. The virus and associated social restriction measures have been linked to an increase in mental health conditions. A considerable body of evidence shows that spending time in and engaging with nature can improve human health and wellbeing. Our study explores nature’s role in supporting health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We created web-based questionnaires with validated health instruments and conducted spatial analyses in a geographic information system (GIS). We collected data on people’s patterns of nature exposure, associated health and wellbeing responses, and potential socioecological drivers such as relative deprivation, access to greenspaces, and land-cover greenness. We applied a range of statistical analyses including bootstrap resampled correlations and binomial regression models, adjusting for several potential confounding factors. We found that respondents significantly changed their patterns of visiting nature as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. People spent more time in nature and visited nature more often during the pandemic. People generally visited nature for a health and wellbeing benefit and felt that nature helped them cope during the pandemic. Greater land-cover greenness within a 250 m radius around a respondent’s postcode was important in predicting higher levels of mental wellbeing. There were significantly more food-growing allotments within 100 m and 250 m of respondents with high mental wellbeing scores. The need for a mutually-advantageous relationship between humans and the wider biotic community has never been more important. We must conserve, restore and design nature-centric environments to maintain resilient societies and planetary health.

Inadequate Exposure to Greenspace and Its Effects on Mental Health During the Pandemic

“…Some countries did not impose strict restrictions, especially during the early time of the pandemic. For instance, a study conducted by Robinson et al (2021) found that people's greenspace use and duration of visiting nature were more frequent and longer during the pandemic. As a result, people's mental health is only slightly affected because there is not an evident decrease in people's exposure to greenspace after the breakout of the pandemic.…”

Contact With Nature as a Mental Health Buffer for Lower Income Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…In contrast to our findings, among a majority white (92%), high-income sample of residents of Vermont, participation in nature-related physical activity increased for many categories (gardening, hiking, jogging, walking, watching wildlife), and that these changes in activity engagement were associated with demographic characteristics (income, sex, employment) (Morse et al, 2020). Likewise, a survey among educated, older, primarily residents of England (96%) found that respondents significantly changed their patterns of visiting nature as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, whereby people spent more time in nature and visited nature more often during the pandemic (Robinson et al, 2021). Similar to our findings, however, a global study with respondents from 97 countries, restrictions related to COVID-19 found reductions in naturerelated leisure activities (e.g., birding) (Randler et al, 2020).…”

“…Other research has shown increased nature-related activities in and value of nature in the US (Morse et al, 2020) and significant changes in patterns of visiting nature as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK (Robinson et al, 2021). Not only did frequency of nature-related activities change, but so did the locations, with some research reporting increased usage of nearby or neighborhood natural areas (Randler et al, 2020;Portegijs et al, 2021).…”

Having More Plants at Home During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Is It Just Following A Trend?

“…Planting plants in pots can also reduce the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, namely anger, anxiety, irritability, fear, irritability, and sleep disturbance (Spano et al 2021;Theodorou et al 2021). Several studies also reported that individuals had been increasingly engaging in nature activities (Ugolini et al 2020;Geng et al 2021;Robinson et al 2021). On the other hand, no study in Indonesia investigates the relationship between having more plants and mental health issues during the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia.…”