COVID-19 Impacts: Enjoying the Outdoors - the outdoor recreation habits of Scots during lockdown
We have been delighted to see (and hear on local radio!) some of the results from the survey we recently completed for Scottish Natural Heritage being used to support their Make Space for Nature campaign.
Our research found that during lockdown many people used the additional time they had available to spend more time outdoors, exploring their local area as part of their daily exercise routine or spending increased time in their garden. The time they spent in nature during lockdown was valuable - most notably around two thirds of the population reported mental health benefits as the experiences in nature helped them to de-stress, relax and unwind during this difficult time.
Encouragingly, around half of the population also told us that they would like to continue to spend more time outdoors for recreation after lockdown and others would like to make positive lifestyle changes such as continuing to travel less for non-essential journeys. We will be undertaking a follow up survey wave in September to find out whether people have indeed continue to spend more time in nature as certain aspects of life begin to get a bit more back to normal.
The summary report is available below or you can access the detailed full results on the SNH website here
