Responding to COVID-19 and future times of uncertainty: Challenges and opportunities associated with visitor use, management, and research in parks and protected areas

Abstract

In March 2020, many United States-based parks and protected area (PPA) managers implemented disease control measures (e.g., park and facility closures) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. This thought-piece considers expected transformations in PPAs during unprecedented circumstances. We employ a challenges and opportunities framework to explain pandemic-induced alterations in visitor accessibility, PPA management, and scientific research. We acknowledge the complex difficulties that visitors, managers, and researchers may experience during pandemics and provide a listing of opportunities that result from these challenges. We suggest that PPA managers explore alternative solutions that maintain recreation access during future times of uncertainty. Maintaining access allows PPAs to continue serving as places for healthy recreation and restoration for park visitors and may create new opportunities for visitors, managers, and researchers. We underline the necessity to include human disease impacts into adaptive management frameworks and the shifting needs for current and prospective research. These details can affect the availability and accessibility of PPAs, how managers approach and adapt to unusual circumstances, and the focus of future recreation research.

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Management of European Protected Areas and Policy Implications

“…COVID-19 so far has had significant impacts on the management of PAs across the world. In the United States, an increase in visitors was observed in outdoor spaces creating a number of challenges similar to the ones identified in this paper for Europe [42]. Conversely, in other parts of the world, different concerns have been raised with African PAs seeing a significant reduction of tourism in wildlife reserves [43] leading to reduced financial resources for park authorities and raising concerns about illegal practices.…”

“…On the contrary, in September 2020, Europe entered a second wave of the pandemic and indeed such pandemics might become more frequent in the future [41]. Thus, similar to other parts of the world, it is important to reflect on what has happened in these first months of the pandemic and propose ways that will facilitate the long-term management of such PAs in times of public health crises and associated restrictions and uncertainty [42]. There are two broad categories of management challenges: visitor number management and visitor behavior management.…”

COVID-19 pandemic impacts on conservation research, management, and public engagement in US national parks

“…National parks can play a unique role in studies examining the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic because of the extent of the natural areas and the wealth of existing data describing long-term pre-pandemic conditions ( Jacobs et al, 2020 ). Some national park researchers are examining the ecological and conservation impacts of the pandemic by adjusting existing study designs and starting new studies.…”

“…For parks that have capacity, the pandemic may provide an opportunity to plan and support forward-looking natural and social sciences aimed at helping park managers and communities respond to rapid changes and emergencies ( Jacobs et al, 2020 ). With ongoing environmental changes, national parks can expect other major disturbances—e.g., major storms, fires, droughts, and insect pest outbreaks—to become more common.…”

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

“…In response to the COVID‐19 pandemic, many management authorities of Protected Areas (PAs) discouraged visitors from accessing them in order to slow down the transmission rate and protect local communities (IUCN, 2020; Jacobs et al., 2020; McGinlay et al., 2020). As a consequence, the COVID‐19 pandemic is expected to have significant socioeconomic implications for local communities living near or inside these areas (Bennett et al., 2020; Hockings et al., 2020).…”