This research analyzed the status of visiting peri-urban forestlands and mountains during the first emergency period in Japan via large-scale online questionnaire survey. We examined in explorative manner corelating factors with visits;i.e. social-economic attributes as well as environmental factors of residents (such as land use patterns of residential areas), and their awareness on forestlands. Results implied that environmental factors could provide a basis to encourage the residents to visit peri-urban forestlands and mountains during the pandemic. Peri-urban areas with forestlands have such environmental factors, and the residents who visited peri-urban forestlands and mountains tended to live in peri-urban areas. As for the awareness of the visitors, the expectations for forest functions were identified as another influential factor to facilitate them to visit those places. The residents who visited the area (forests and mountains) had relatively high expectations for mental and educational functions of forest. The environmental factor might be able to encourage to have such expectations. In future research, the relationships between the environmental factors and expectations or awareness of residents for peri-urban forest need to be explored.
Visiting Peri-Urban Forests and Mountains During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Empirical Analysis of Environmental Factor and Awareness of Visitors via Large-Scale Online Survey