Impact of COVID-19 Lock-Downs on Nature Connection in Southern and Eastern Africa

Ju-hyoung Lee, Madalitso Mkandawire, Patrick Niyigena, Abonisiwe Xotyeni, Edwin Itamba and Sylvester Siame
Additional contact information
Ju-hyoung Lee: Department of Forest Resources, Yeungnam University, 280 Daehak-ro, Gyeongsan 38541, Korea
Madalitso Mkandawire: Kasungu District Agriculture Office, Kasungu P.O. Box 17, Malawi
Patrick Niyigena: Rwanda Youth in Agribusiness Forum, KG 569 Street, Kigali P.O. Box 7202, Rwanda
Abonisiwe Xotyeni: Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul (PSPS), Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, Korea
Edwin Itamba: Statistics and Logistic Officer, Sengerema District Council, Mwanza P.O. Box 175, Tanzania
Sylvester Siame: Forestry Department, Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, Lusaka P.O. Box 50042, Zambia

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: The response of African countries immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic declaration was rapid and appropriate, with low infections and mortality rates until June 2020. Severe lock-down measures were effective in Africa; however, the reduction in the amount of natural experience influences the quality of life in modern society. This study is conducted as an international comparative study in five African countries on changes in the perception of health recovery and outdoor activities in urban forests during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted with 430 respondents to investigate the relationships between COVID-19 stress, indoor activity, appreciation of greenspaces, perception of health recovery, and use of greenspaces. A structural equation model was used for analysis. The visit frequency and staying time in urban forests after lock-down dramatically decreased, raising concerns about nature-deficit disorder across the target countries after the end of the pandemic. This study confirmed urban dwellers’ desire for natural experiences and health recovery during the pandemic and predicts an explosive increase in urban forest utilization after the pandemic has ended.

Keywords: COVID-19 in Africa; lock-down; urban forests; health recovery; outdoor recreation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/6/872/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/6/872/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:6:p:872-:d:834374

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().