ABSTRACT
Green areas provide Cultural Ecosystem Services (CESs), that is, the ecosystem outputs that enable a range of experiential and intellectual activities. These include health promotion, recreation, enjoyment of the cultural heritage, and aesthetic experiences. The demand for CESs has grown during the first half of 2020, when most of the EU Member States had to face a stringent lockdown to contain the spread of the Covid-19, and people have undergone considerable psychophysical distress. In this framework, the Garden of Ninfa, one of the most visited Gardens of Italy, with its natural, historical, and architectural beauties delivers precious CESs, which have however been poorly studied. In this research, through a survey, we investigated the CESs delivered by the Garden of Ninfa in the immediate post-lockdown period, providing at the same time a monetary evaluation. The results show that people mostly visit the Garden of Ninfa for the aesthetic experience, followed by the resonance in terms of culture or heritage and health promotion;the combination of water bodies and fauna is highly effective in delivering CESs. The monetary evaluation, ranging between 1.0 and 2.7 Million EUR per year, may stimulate the replication of similar initiatives, especially in highly altered areas. The safety measures put in place by the governance of the Garden of Ninfa have safeguarded the tour experience from the Covid-19 fear of infection.
ABSTRACT
The unique circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic pose serious challenges to mood stability and emotional regulation at all ages. Although many people tend to react resiliently to stress, others appear to display emotional anxiety and depression-related symptoms. In this study, we carried out a survey (N = 10,053) during the first week of the general lockdown (quarantine) in Argentina to measure early affective reactions in Argentine adults. Respondents showed substantial anxious and depressive symptoms, with 33% and 23% of participants reporting possible depressive and anxious syndromes, respectively, with the youngest group (18 to 25 y.o.) showing the highest prevalence of symptoms. Even if prior mental health problems predisposed or aggravated the reaction, participants without prior complaints showed signs of psychological impact. Using linear regression, the most important independent variables related to depressive symptoms were the feeling of loneliness followed by daily stress. In the case of anxious states, the strongest variables were negative repetitive thinking and feeling of loneliness. Other psychological, economic, and social factors are discussed. This study is in line with previous literature that highlight the importance of the psychological impact of pandemics, but additionally demonstrates that these reactions are present at a large scale immediately after the start of quarantine with very low infectious rates as an early anticipatory adaptive reaction leading to potential negative outcomes from adjustment disorders to major disorders. In addition, the present results provide potentially relevant information about sudden environmental impacts on affective states and specific pathways for anxiety and depression to be expressed. We end by discussing implications for public policy based on considering the most vulnerable groups.