Protected areas and local communities in the temperate rainforest of southern Chile

protected areas;local communities;Chile;Stakeholder Analysis;Social Network Analysis

Mardones Rivera, Gonzalo ; Freeman, Claire ; Morgan, Richard

University of Otago

关键词: protected areas;    local communities;    Chile;    Stakeholder Analysis;    Social Network Analysis;   

Others  :  https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/10523/6857/1/MardonesRiveraGonzalo2015PhD.pdf

美国|英语

来源: Otago University Research Archive

【 摘 要 】

The paradox of nature conservation is that, in spite of the increasing number and coverage of protected areas worldwide, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation continues to increase. Thus, it is important to look for solutions that contribute to better understanding of the relationship between conservation and development, particularly around the integration of protected areas in a humanized territorial context. This research examined the relationship between protected areas and local communities in the context of multiple stakeholders involved in conservation and development. A case study in the buffer zone of the Alerce Andino National Park (AANP) and Llanquihue National Reserve (LLNR), located in an area of temperate forest in southern Chile, was used to examine this relationship. The main activities of the population (about 6,000 inhabitants) are aquaculture, small-scale agriculture, forestry, fishing and tourism. The research used stakeholder mapping and social networks analysis methodology. More than 100 semi-structured interviews with leaders of community organizations, and representatives of public agencies and the private sector were undertaken. The research identified 229 stakeholders involved in various aspects of conservation and development in the AANP & LLNR buffer zone. These stakeholders act at various geographical scales, have great diversity of interests and show significant disparities in their degrees of influence. This complexity generates trade-offs among stakeholders, particularly the use of natural resources from the social-ecological systems. The social network analysis shows that stakeholders in the buffer zone are part of a social network with very low density; highly fragmented sectoral subgroups; poor links between different groups; moderate levels of centralization by some actors, particularly public agencies and municipalities; significant degrees of isolation of stakeholders; low levels of community social capital; and moderate cross-scale links between regional and local level. The study identifies the social isolation of the protected area as expressed in weak links with local communities and poor links with other stakeholders in the buffer zone. This social isolation is explained by a management model that excludes the social dimension of conservation, leading to a polarized territory between the protected area for conservation and the buffer zone for development. This isolation is inadequate for the good governance of natural resources and protected areas.