Demand for outdoor recreation in a time of a pandemic

The extent of the health benefits of contact with nature came to the fore during the health crisis. However, studies do not fully appreciate the effect of the type of natural environment to which individuals are exposed. The studies often use a very vague category of “green space” for the purpose.

We apply social sciences analytical concepts to analyze demands for recreational uses of both forests and ocean beaches in a time of sanitary crisis. Our studies use data from two regional surveys applied to a representative sample of the Aquitaine population.

We underline the social inequalities with regard to access to forest and ocean beaches, even though outdoor recreation is free of charge most of the time. We also identify salient differences between uses, motivations, and risk perceptions in both of the natural settings. We discuss how such discrepancies are inherited from previously constructed social representations.

We believe that public health studies could benefit greatly from the achievements of several decades of research in the field of outdoor studies.