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Abstract |
Covid 19 has had a significant impact in the UK and has resulted in substantial changes to participation in outdoor recreation. A sequence of lockdowns where people were limited to stay at home regulations within their local area, followed by the re-opening of travel and activities in the late summer of 2020, have affected the places that people visit and the activities that they can do. In terms of outdoor recreation, Covid 19 restrictions have ranged from being limited to one short walk per day directly from home for the express purpose of exercise, to tourism visits to anywhere in the UK to undertake the full range of possible outdoor activities within larger groups. In between these two opposites has been a variable number of greater or lesser restrictions on outdoor recreation and travel. In order to understand the effect of Covid 19 on participation in outdoor recreation and associated land management issues, a number of robust social surveys and case studies have been undertaken by government agencies and academics across the UK. Many of these have been collecting evidence on a regular basis since the start of the pandemic and they provide a valuable resource to understand the impact of this societal wide change. |
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