Keep Calm and Go Out: Urban Nature Exposure, Mental Health, and Perceived Value during the COVID-19 Lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of incorporating nature-based solutions in urban design, in order to create sustainable and resilient cities. Inspired by these events, the present study aims at exploring the mental health benefits of nature exposure during the outbreak. Secondarily, we investigate changes in use patterns towards urban green spaces (UGS) and urban blue spaces (UBS) and whether extreme conditions, such as these of a lockdown, can lead to an increase in people's appreciation of urban nature. Through an online survey, we observed that the pandemic resulted in a decrease in the frequency of visitation to UGS/UBS (p < 0.001). Significant differences were found for exercise (p < 0.001) and socialization (p < 0.05) as main drivers for visiting urban nature pre- and post-lockdown. Accordingly, visitation rates for forests (p < 0.05), playgrounds (p < 0.001), and the sea (p < 0.001) differed significantly when comparing the two periods. In people's perception, UGS/UBS are important for the urban fabric (89%). Our structural equation model indicated that nature exposure had a beneficial effect on participants' mental health (p < 0.001). Pathways that explain the relationship between nature exposure and post- lockdown value were nature relatedness, motivation, and perceived importance of UGS/UBS. No mediation could be extracted for nature exposure and mental health. Our findings show the positive association between nature exposure and mental health improvement, especially in times of crisis, as well as a shift in the "value domain” towards urban nature.

Population Estimation and Identification of Long-Tailed Macaque (Macaca fascicularis) Group at Tlogo Muncar Tourism Area, Mount Merapi National Park, After Two Years Closure Caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic

Long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis is one of the most common primates in Indonesia. In Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, the long-tailed macaque is habituated in Merapi Forest. The study aims to estimate the long-tailed macaque population and re-identification of groups. Moreover, we will observe the social structures that probably changed because of the interruption of interaction with visitors after the closure of the Tlogo Muncar area during the COVID-19 pandemic. The estimation population study was done using the concentration method. The long-tailed macaque group in Tlogo Muncar consists of three groups: Waterfalls, Mosque, and Joglo Trubus. The study was also identifying the alpha male of each group. The dataset obtained was processed using Microsoft Excel and analyzed descriptively. The results show that the estimated long-tailed macaque population in Tlogo Muncar area is 282 individuals. Alpha male identification of each group found alpha males in the Waterfall Group characterized by a lump on the left eyelid and a wound on the left hand. The alpha male of the Mosque Group is marked by a lump on his left eyelid with maxillary prognathism, while the alpha male of the Joglo Trubus Group has transverse scratches on the nose. The results showed an increase in the long-tailed macaque population in Tlogo Muncar area from 201 individuals in 2021 to 282 individuals in 2022. The increase of ecological pressure perhaps caused the rise in population number in 2022 during the closure of the area, to which the adult female responded by increasing their reproduction rate. The reopening of Tlogo Muncar after the Covid-19 pandemic has increased feed availability and attracted monkeys to forage outside the forest.

Aggressivity level of LTM (Macaca Fascicularis) and visitors' perception in Tlogo Muncar Kaliurang, Taman Nasional Gunung Merapi After Two Years of COVID-19 Pandemic

Long-tailed macaque/LTM (Macaca fascicularis) has good interaction and adaptation ability, as we found in the Tlogo Muncar area, Kaliurang, Yogyakarta, which is accustomed to visitors. Often food provision by visitors allegedly increases the aggressiveness of LTMs. Three groups of macaques identified at Tlogo Muncar are Waterfall, Joglo Trubus, and Mushola group. The study aimed to understand visitors' perceptions and the aggression level of LTM at Tlogo Muncar area, Merapi Mount National Park (Taman Nasional Gunung Merapi/TNGM) after two years of closure of the site caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Observations were conducted using the scan sampling method and continued by focal sampling. According to Wijayanto (2015), the aggressiveness of LTM is divided into four categories, aggressive level 1: dare to approach, potentially attack physically and steal goods or food from the front;aggressive level 2, steal goods or food from behind or side, aggressive level 3, steal goods or food when the visitor is off guard;and aggressive level 4, dare to approach when fed and only look for food waste in the dump. Observing visitors' perceptions was conducted by randomly distributing questionnaires to 100 respondents. The result showed that aggressive behaviour level 1 is generally carried out by adult male LTMs. However, aggressive behaviour observed is mainly aggressivity level 4. The questionnaire results indicate decreasing respondents' understanding of the disease transmission from long-tailed monkeys to humans compared to the 2021 questionnaire result. However, most visitors agreed that the interaction between humans and LTMs should be limited to a specific location within the area.

16th International Conference on the Modelling of Casting, Welding, and Advanced Solidification Processes

PrefaceThe 16th International Conference on the Modelling of Casting, Welding, and Advanced Solidification Processes (MCWASP XVI) was held from June 18 to 23, 2023, in Banff, Canada, at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Founded in 1933, the Centre in Treaty 7 Territory within Banff National Park—Canada's first National Park—is a learning organization built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and creative development. The "all-inclusive” nature of the conference and the remote setting meant that participants dined, attended oral and poster presentations, and participated in social activities as a group, fostering outstanding opportunities for networking.Given that the MCWASP community had not met in person since 2015 in Japan (the 2020 edition of MCWASP was virtual owing to COVID-19), the 2023 conference provided the opportunity to renew old friendships and make new ones as well as discuss the science of solidification and related processes—all within the backdrop of the beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains.The technical program comprised more than 70 oral and poster presentations. In addition to content related to modelling of casting, welding, and advanced solidification processes, keynotes were invited to talk about related subjects (artificial intelligence/machine learning, and permeability modelling in shale rock) as well as the rich diversity of fossils, especially dinosaurs, found in Alberta.The oral technical program was organized with as a single session (i.e., no concurrent presentations). It featured all aspects of solidification modelling, including solidification process technologies (continuous and semi-continuous casting, shape casting, additive manufacturing, and welding), coupled multi-physics simulations, defect formation, fluid flow, micro- and macro-structure formation, numerical methods, and related experimentation, especially in-situ observation of solidification.The four-day technical program was spread over five days to give participants the opportunity to explore the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains.In these proceedings, the papers are organized by major theme. The dominant topics are Additive Manufacturing and Welding and Microstructure Formation, followed by Continuous Casting – Shape Casting, Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow, Alloy Segregation, Defects, Imaging of Solidification, Thermomechanics, and Materials Properties. In these themes, the authors report advances in numerical modelling techniques, new scientific and process developments in solidification, and related in-situ experimentation.Although significant progress has been made over these past 16 MCWASP conferences covering 43 years, it is clear that the complexity of advanced solidification phenomena as related to conventional and emerging manufacturing technologies still attracts a great deal of scientific and industrial interest to support technological innovation.André PhillionBanff, Canada, June 2023MCWASP XVI 2023List of Peer Reviewers, Sponsors, MCWASP XVI Organizers, International Scientific Committee are available in this Pdf.

Towards sustainable urban communities: investigating the associations between community parks and place attachment in Master-Planned Estates in Sydney

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our living experiences in cities and neighbourhoods. It is urgently necessary to understand more about place attachment and human-environment interactions in urban communities. Master-Planned Estate (MPE) as a sustainable residential form, provides physical and social infrastructures to build a healthy community and sustainable environment. Place attachment is one essential factor of community sustainability. However, there is a significant research gap in exploring the relationship between neighbourhood built environment and place attachment in MPEs. This study investigates the associations between community parks and place attachment in MPEs in Sydney. Using the data collected via a resident survey in two MPEs in Sydney during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, we found that three factors of community park use are significantly and positively associated with place attachment: pedestrian accessibility to parks, pedestrian connectivity with surroundings and satisfaction with children's playground in parks. This study provides theoretical, empirical, and practical contributions to sustainable communities. It tests place attachment theory in the Australian MPE context. It provides first-hand empirical evidence to understand human-environment interactions in MPEs and adds evidence from the COVID-19 context to the literature. The findings provide practical implications for sustainable urban communities in Sydney or wider regions.

Assessment of public open space research hotspots, vitalities, and outlook using CiteSpace

Urbanization is essential for human development and progress. Therefore, it is urgent to study urban public open space (POS) under the dual impact of urbanization construction and the global COVID-19 outbreak. Bibliometric visual analysis is currently popular in academia, as it can be used to analyze specific fields. This research summarizes the development history, hotspots, and trends in POS, with theoretical and data support based on the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection. The study period was from 2002 to 2022. A total of 398 papers were collected, with the number of papers increasing over time. The research covers various fields, including environment, architecture, ecology, geography, design, behavior, etc. The results show that POS research hotspots include form layout, social value, and sustainable renewal. This paper demonstrates that there is a lack of vitality in urban POS. Although affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the fundamental reason for this is that the vitality of POS is not created from multiple dimensions. Vitality should be enhanced according to the space's terrain, ecology, environment, and other factors. POS research lacks crossdisciplinary collaboration and the fusion of multiple fields. Thus, cooperation between the various disciplines involved must be strengthened. In the future, POS research should change its design concept, continue to place the "human" in the leading position, establish a multidisciplinary research system, use local empirical cases, and develop applicable theories that can be extended upon. Thus, it will be possible to build harmonious open spaces that enhance the relationship between the people and the land and provide practical solutions for other countries in which urbanization is advancing.

Influence of Revitalization on the Social and Economic Well-Being of Residents: Case Study of Lithuania

The lack of public spaces, recreational areas, and sports facilities in older city neighborhoods, as well as the importance of people's social and economic well-being, have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Revitalization is used to update the physical environment of old neighborhoods;it improves not only the physical environment of the neighborhood, but also contributes to ensuring the social and economic well-being of the residents. The article aims to identify which typical revitalization project solutions, only referring to physical environmental improvement projects, improve the social and economic well-being of the residents. To achieve this goal, a statistical analysis of the Žirmūnai triangle residents was performed with obtained survey data. The hypothesized connections between typical revitalization solutions and changes in the social and economic well-being of the population were verified using Pearson's Chi-Square test. The results showed that the public spaces, sports, and playgrounds provided by revitalization were directly related to the social and economic well-being of the residents. As a result of this typical revitalization solution, 17% of the residents experienced an improvement in their economic well-being, 17% of the residents got to know their neighbors, and 95% of the residents indicated that they enjoy living in the neighborhood.

Valuation and financing of National Parks in South and South East Asia: a meta-analysis

Protected Areas, the mainstay of biodiversity conservation, are facing an unprecedented threat of being exploited, making their conservation not only crucial but also urgent. As the looming threat does not leave scope for expensive and time-consuming surveys, this paper intends to add to the existing literature and to the cause of biodiversity conservation by undertaking the first ever multinational Meta-Analysis of National Park (NP) valuation studies in South and South East Asia. The relative importance of study-, site-, and socioeconomic characteristics is estimated through a meta-regression and suggestions for redesigning pricing strategies to capture the unrealized consumer surplus are presented. Key results highlight the importance of the place of residence, area of the NP, and GDP per capita in explaining variation in NP value. Furthermore, taking note of the havoc wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the study highlights the need to diversify the funding base for NP management in order to ensure sustainable financing by presenting country-specific examples.

A Place for Us: Parks as a Social Justice Issue for Asian Americans

Krishnan and Park's communities of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst in New York City - home to a 75,000-strong, rapidly growing Asian American population - were the epicenter of not one, but two pandemics in 2020. As COVID-19 claimed the lives of their elders, trapped in nursing homes and cramped apartments, anti-Asian hate awaited them at every turn, stalking them on subway platforms and sidewalks. As these twin pandemics surged through their communities, their parks saved their lives. Their open spaces allowed them to escape the physical, mental, and social constraints of quarantine into fresh air. They allowed them to exist in community with their neighbors. And today, from daily t'ai chi ch'uan and yoga to annual Diwali, Eid, and Lunar New Year celebrations, their parks have become places of continued healing and growth. Here and across New York City, their public open spaces are essential to meeting the multiple challenges they face, from public health to public safety. They must recognize the extraordinary value of their park system and deepen their investment for all neighborhoods, and for future generations. Every community needs and deserves space to thrive.

Untangling the Integral Impact of Land Use Change, Economic, Ecological and Social Factors on the Development of Burabay District (Kazakhstan) during the Period 1999–2021

Long-term spatiotemporal Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) analysis is an objective tool for assessing patterns of sustainable development (SD). The basic purpose of this research is to define the Driving Mechanisms (DM) and assess the trend of SD in the Burabay district (Kazakhstan), which includes a city, an agro-industrial complex, and a national natural park, based on the integrated use of spatiotemporal data (STD), economic, environmental, and social (EES) indicators. The research was performed on the GEE platform using Landsat and Random Forest. The DM were studied by Multiple Linear Regression and Principal Component Analysis. SD trend was assessed through sequential transformations, aggregations, and integrations of 36 original STD and EES indicators. The overall classification accuracy was 0.85–0.97. Over the past 23 years, pasture area has changed the most (−16.69%), followed by arable land (+14.72%), forest area increased slightly (+1.81%), and built-up land—only +0.16%. The DM of development of the AOI are mainly economic components. There has been a noticeable drop in the development growth of the study area in 2021, which is apparently a consequence of the COVID-19. The upshots of the research can serve as a foundation for evaluating SD and LULC policy.

The impact of COVID-19 on the importance and use of public parks in Saudi Arabia

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected people's interaction with their urban environment. This study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people's experience of using public parks. The study considered the pandemic's impact on awareness of the importance of these parks and the associated use rates, duration and patterns taking Dammam City in Saudi Arabia as a case study in this regard, where improving the provision and utilisation of public parks tops the urban development agenda. The study adopted a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach, using participatory observation and questionnaire surveys. The study found that the COVID-19 pandemic has improved awareness of the importance of public parks in daily life, reflected in visit rates and duration. Some observable changes in people's use patterns in these spaces emerged in this context, as they expressed greater preference for pursuing physical activities in the post-pandemic period.

Policymaker and Practitioner Perceptions of Parks for Health and Wellbeing: Scoping a Holistic Approach

Urban parks provide a multitude of health benefits for citizens navigating the challenges of 21st-century living. And while this is well known by both scholars and practitioners, there is less understanding about the differential impacts of park size, type of facilities, community accessibility, and management. This is the central concern of the research reported here, which is a part of a larger project titled 'Better Parks, Healthier for All?' funded under the UKRI-NHMRC Built Environment and Prevention Research Scheme 2019. Within this broader context, the current paper discusses the results of a focus group to better understand how different park qualities promote physical and mental health. Using a COVID-safe research approach, we brought key park providers, park policymakers, and green and open space designers from New South Wales, Australia, together to participate in an online focus group in May 2021. The recruitment was based on the domain expertise and practitioner knowledge of the issues at hand. The ensuing discussion canvassed three areas of interest: What is park quality? How is park quality associated with health? How can we assess park quality and its ability to deliver health outcomes? A thematic analysis of the group's deliberations reveals a very holistic appreciation of park quality. The ability of a park network to provide a range of health outcomes is central to this view, with each park playing a role in delivering different benefits across the network. Our findings indicate that there are many opportunities to enhance the myriad of benefits and multiple ways to gain them. Co-design is essential to ensure that parks best suit the local context and provide relevant benefits to all stakeholders. In this way, local communities can gain ownership and enhanced agency in relation to using and enjoying their parks. We conclude that delivering locally networked parks and associated spaces for community health and wellbeing are essential in the broader context of global environmental sustainability.

Influence of the Sars-Cov-2 Coronavirus Pandemic on the Dynamics of Tourism in Selected National Parks in Poland

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic that began in 2020 hit the tourist services sector very hard. This article aims to determine the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences on the tourism dynamics in nine Polish national parks. The statistical (descriptive) analysis method was used based on data collection regarding the number of tickets sold in parks in 2019 and 2020. Studies have shown that despite health concerns and several restrictions, the number of tourists in all parks, expressed in ticket sales in 2020, only decreased by 0.06%. Polish national parks, which are less popu-lar, recorded increases in visitors by up to 66%, while in gardens with usually high attendance, there were decreases, especially during the spring lockdown. The obtained analyses allow the development of tourist mobility patterns in unique situations.

Urban green spaces for support healthiness in Jakarta during the COVID-19 pandemic: A quantitative study

This research analyzes the criticality of Urban Green Spaces (UGS) environmental and health benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, restrictions on mobility, safety concerns, and restricted access during the implementation of social distancing policies tend to use UGS to provide alternative spaces for social interaction and health. This is a severe concern to Jakarta, as the epicenter of the pandemic outbreak with limited UGS. An online survey was conducted from March to April 2021 to understand better and investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the use of UGS and behavior-changing of visitation. The results show that respondents continued to use UGS during the pandemic and considered it more beneficial for health. However, the result showed that residents' considerations of staying active for health reasons, reduced stress, and boredom. This research provides empirical evidence illustrating the value of UGS as a resilient city infrastructure, therefore, the management policy in this city can be considered with potential application to other cities.

Measures of Greenspace Exposure and Their Association to Health-Related Outcomes for the Periods before and during the 2020 Lockdown: A Cross-Sectional Study in the West of England

Greenspaces are argued to be one of the important features in the urban environment that impact the health of the population. Previous research suggested either positive, negative, or no associations between greenspaces and health-related outcomes. This paper takes a step backward to, first, explore different quantitative spatial measures of evaluating greenspace exposure, before attempting to investigate the relationship between those measures and health-related outcomes. The study uses self-reported health data from an online cross-sectional survey conducted for residents in the West of England. This yielded data of greenspace use, physical activity, wellbeing (ICECAP-A score), and connectedness to nature for 617 participants, divided into two sets: health outcomes for the period before versus during the 2020 lockdown. The study uses the participants' postcodes (provided in the survey) to calculate eleven spatial measures of greenspace exposure using the software ArcGIS Pro 2.9.5. A total of 88 multivariate regression models were run while controlling for eleven confounders of the participants' characteristics. Results inferred 57 significant associations such that six spatial measures of greenspace exposure (NDVI R200m, NDVI R300m, NDVI R500m, Network Distance to nearest greenspace access, Euclidean Distance to nearest greenspace access, and Euclidean Distance to nearest 0.5 ha doorstep greenspace access) have significant association to at least one of the four health-related outcomes, suggesting a positive impact on population health when living in greener areas or being closer to greenspaces. Moreover, there are further significant associations between the frequency of use of greenspaces and increasing physical activity or feeling more connected to nature. Still, the residents' patterns of using greenspaces significantly changed during versus before lockdown and has impacted the relationships between health outcomes and the greenspace exposure measures.

Scenic Beauty Evaluation of Forests with Autumn-Colored Leaves from Aerial and Ground Perspectives: A Case Study in Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, China

In recent years, on-site visitation has been strictly restricted in many scenic areas due to the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Cloud tourism”, also called online travel, uses high-resolution photographs taken by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as the dominant data source and has attracted much attention. Due to the differences between ground and aerial observation perspectives, the landscape elements that affect the beauty of colored-leaved forests are quite different. In this paper, Qixia National Forest Park in Nanjing, China, was chosen as the case study area, and the best viewpoints were selected by combining tourists' preferred viewing routes with a field survey, followed by a scenic beauty evaluation (SBE) of the forests with autumn-colored leaves in 2021 from the aerial and ground perspectives. The results show that (1) the best viewpoints can be obtained through the spatial overlay of five landscape factors: elevation, surface runoff, slope, aspect, and distance from the road;(2) the dominant factors influencing the beauty of colored-leaved forests from the aerial perspective are terrain changes, forest coverage, landscape composition, landscape contrast, the condition of the human landscape, and recreation frequency;and (3) the beauty of the ground perspective of the colored-leaved forests is strongly influenced by the average diameter at breast height (DBH), the dominant color of the leaves, the ratio of the colored-leaved tree species, the canopy width, and the fallen leaf coverage. The research results can provide scientific reference for the creation of management measures for forests with autumn-colored leaves. © 2023 by the authors.

Social carrying capacity and emotion dynamics in urban national parks during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Special Issue: Covid-19 and outdoor recreation.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the mobility, accessibility, and behaviors of visitors dramatically. Under the impact of COVID-19, the social carrying capacity and emotion dynamics in parks and recreation areas are expected to change due to the uncertainty of health risks associated with visitors' behaviors. This study conducted an on-site visitor survey at Leiqiong Global Geological Park, a national park located in urban-proximate areas in Haikou, China. This study aims to examine factors impacting visitors' perceived crowding and emotions under varying levels of visitor use in urban national parks in the context of COVID-19. Study results suggest that visitors have the highest level of motivation for scenery and culture viewing and are generally satisfied with the environmental quality and design and COVID-19 prevention strategies and implementation efforts within the park. Moreover, this study suggests that the level of crowding and COVID-19 prevention strategies and implementation can affect visitors' emotions in urban natioanl parks significantly. These findings highlight the importance of enforcing the social carrying capacity limits and COVID-19 prevention strategies for urban parks and protected areas to mitigate physical and mental health risks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Urbanization and COVID‐19 Prevalence in India

The research questions we answer in this paper pertain to the socio‐economic determinants of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), the relationship between urbanization, urban primacy, the proportion of households in slums, urban poverty, health infrastructure, open spaces in cities and COVID prevalence, in India. We find that urbanization, higher workforce participation, higher population density and higher income lead to increased Covid prevalence. We find a positive relationship between urban primacy, slum households and COVID‐19, and a negative association between health infrastructure, parks and COVID‐19. Cities should develop and maintain not only hospital infrastructure such as beds, but also parks in the post‐pandemic world.Alternate :Las preguntas de investigación a las que respondemos en este artículo se relacionan con los determinantes socioeconómicos de la enfermedad por coronavirus 2019 (COVID‐19), la relación entre la urbanización, la primacía urbana, la proporción de hogares en barrios marginales, la pobreza urbana, la infraestructura sanitaria, los espacios abiertos en las ciudades y la prevalencia de COVID, en la India. Se encontró que la urbanización, una mayor participación de la fuerza laboral, una mayor densidad de población y mayores ingresos conducen a una mayor prevalencia de COVID. Se encontró una relación positiva entre la primacía urbana, los hogares de barrios marginales y COVID‐19, y una asociación negativa entre la infraestructura sanitaria, los parques y COVID‐19. En el mundo post‐pandémico, las ciudades deberían desarrollar y mantener no sólo infraestructuras hospitalarias, como las camas, sino también los parques.Alternate :抄録本稿では、インドにおける新型コロナウイルス感染症 (COVID‐19)の社会経済的決定因子に関連する研究課題、すなわち、都市化、都市の優位性、スラム世帯の割合、都市貧困、健康インフラ、都市のオープンスペース、COVID‐19の罹患率、以上の関連性を解明する。都市化、より高い労働参加率、より高い人口密度及びより高い所得がCOVID‐19の罹患率の増加につながることが分かった。その結果、都市の優位性、スラム世帯、COVID‐19には正の関連性があり、保健インフラ、公園、COVID‐19には負の関連性があることがわかった。COVID‐19のパンデミック後の世界では、都市は病床数などの医療インフラだけでなく公園も開発し維持しなければならない。

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the popularity of protected areas for mountain biking and hiking in Australia: insights from volunteered geographic information. (Special Issue: Covid-19 and outdoor recreation.)

Although the popularity of protected areas for recreation has been increasing, short term changes in visitation occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. To examine how volunteer geographic information data can be used to monitor such often rapid changes in visitation across multiple locations, data from online fitness platforms for mountain biking (Trailforks) and remote area hiking (Wikiloc) were analysed before (2019) and during (2020-2021) the COVID-19 pandemic for 40 protected areas in Queensland, Australia. Mountain biking was popular with a total of 93,311 routes on Trailforks, with 26,936 routes in 2019, increasing to 37,406 in 2020, and then decreasing to 28,969 in 2021. Approximately 66% of all the routes were from just three urban protected areas out of the 12 with route data. There were 4367 routes for remote area hiking on Wikiloc across 36 protected areas, which increased slightly from 1081 in 2019, to 1421 in 2020 and to 1865 in 2021. Across 18 factors, distance from urban areas and networks of mountain biking trails best predicted popularity for mountain biking based on Generalised Linear Models. In contrast, average slope and large networks of hiking trails best predicted hiking, with similar results for each year. The two sources of online data were correlated with trail counter data, although not consistently. The results highlight how external factors affect visitation, but also how the same types of protected areas remained popular, and that the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on visitation in South-East Queensland protected areas was less dramatic than for other regions. This study further highlights how volunteered geographic information can be used to assess the popularity of protected areas, including in rapidly changing conditions. Management implications Rapid changes in visitation can be challenging to monitor and manage, as occurred with the COVID-19 pandemic. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mountain biking and hiking and factors predicting protected area popularity were examined across different parks. Visitation increased at different stages of the pandemic, with mountain bikers' preferring urban parks with networks of mountain bike trails while some hikers preferred more remote large parks. Managers can expand on traditional methods of visitor monitoring by using volunteered geographic information to monitor rapid and longer-term trends of visitation to protected areas.