Although different studies have evaluated the positive impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on reducing noise pollution and traffic levels and improving air quality, how populations have perceived such changes in the natural environment has not been adequately evaluated. The present study provides a more in-depth exploration of human population perception of enhanced natural exposure (to animal life and nature sounds) and reduced harmful exposure (by improved air quality and reduced traffic volume) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The data is drawn from 3,109 unselected adults who participated in the GreenCOVID survey from April to July 2020 in England, Ireland, and Spain. The findings suggest that the positive impacts to the natural environment as a result of the lockdown have been better received by the population in Spain and Ireland, in comparison to England. Participants who resided in urban areas had better perceived improvements in nature sounds, air quality, and traffic volume compared to those in rural areas. Older populations and those with lower smoking and alcohol consumption were found to perceive this improvement the most. Furthermore, the greater perception of improvements in environmental elements was also associated with better self-perceived health and improved wellbeing. In the binary logistic regression, living in Ireland or Spain, urban areas, female gender, older age, and good overall wellbeing were associated with a greater perception of improvements in the natural environment, while the factors most associated with a greater perception of reduced harmful exposure were living in Spain, had a good self-perceived health status and older age.

尽管不同的研究评估了 COVID-19 大流行和封锁措施对减少噪音污染和交通水平以及改善空气质量的积极影响，但人们如何看待自然环境中的这种变化尚未得到充分评估。本研究更深入地探讨了因 COVID-19 大流行封锁而导致的人类对增强自然暴露（动物生命和自然声音）和减少有害暴露（通过改善空气质量和减少交通量）的看法. 数据来自于 2020 年 4 月至 2020 年 7 月在英格兰、爱尔兰和西班牙参加 GreenCOVID 调查的 3,109 名未经选择的成年人。调查结果表明，与英格兰相比，西班牙和爱尔兰的民众更能接受封锁对自然环境产生的积极影响。与农村地区的参与者相比，居住在城市地区的参与者更能感受到自然声音、空气质量和交通量的改善。发现老年人口和吸烟和饮酒量较低的人最能感受到这种改善。此外，对环境因素改善的更大感知也与更好的自我感知健康和改善福祉有关。在二元逻辑回归中，居住在爱尔兰或西班牙、城市地区、女性、年长和良好的整体幸福感与对自然环境改善的更大感知相关，