During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, management authorities of numerous Protected Areas (PAs) had to discourage visitors from accessing them in order to reduce the virus transmission rate and protect local communities. This resulted in social–ecological impacts and added another layer of complexity to managing PAs. This paper presents the results of a survey in Snowdonia National Park capturing the views of over 700 local residents on the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions and possible scenarios and tools for managing tourist numbers. Lower visitor numbers were seen in a broadly positive way by a significant number of respondents while benefit sharing issues from tourism also emerged. Most preferred options to manage overcrowding were restricting access to certain paths, the development of mobile applications to alert people to overcrowding and reporting irresponsible behavior. Our findings are useful for PA managers and local communities currently developing post-COVID-19 recovery strategies.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 和保护区：影响、冲突和可能的管理解决方案

在第一波 COVID-19 大流行期间，许多保护区 (PA) 的管理当局不得不阻止游客进入它们，以降低病毒传播率并保护当地社区。这导致了社会生态影响，并为管理保护区增加了另一层复杂性。本文介绍了斯诺登尼亚国家公园的一项调查结果，该调查收集了 700 多名当地居民对 COVID-19 限制的影响以及管理游客人数的可能方案和工具的看法。大量受访者普遍认为游客人数下降是积极的，同时旅游业带来的利益分享问题也出现了。管理过度拥挤的首选方案是限制对某些路径的访问，开发移动应用程序以提醒人们注意过度拥挤和报告不负责任的行为。我们的研究结果对目前正在制定 COVID-19 后恢复策略的 PA 管理者和当地社区很有用。