The involvement of non-state actors in the creation and management of protected areas: insights from the Portuguese case

Abstract

Increasingly, Protected Areas (PAs) are sustained by a multilevel governance where demands for public participation have occurred against the backdrop of state reconfiguration. Little scholarly attention has been paid to how these shifts have taken place; this paper aims to diachronically assess the involvement of non-state actors in the governance of PAs in Portugal. Our findings indicate that while the range of actors involved in the decision-making process has progressively widened, their engagement remains mainly consultative. Moreover, PAs managed by local authorities and private actors have been recognised, yet local authorities’ involvement in PAs managed by state actors has been recently reduced. These apparently contradictory trends seem to illustrate a common rationale: state actors are fighting to retain control while adapting to the broadening role of multiple actors in nature conservation policies. We conclude that new governance approaches do not necessarily pave the way for more public participation in conservation.

Keywords:

• nature conservation
• protected areas
• public participation
• private protected areas
• environmental governance

Acknowledgements

The authors thank three anonymous referees for their constructive comments which helped to improve the paper. The authors also thank Dr. Damián Copena for reviewing an early version of this paper and are deeply grateful to interviewees for sharing their knowledge and time and for helping in the collection of information.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 In this paper by state actors we refer to central administration (national level) or decentralised bodies of the central administration (i.e. regional agencies).

2 Due to the NGO role in nature conservation policy design.

3 An independent body that has the aim of advising public actors and civil society on matters related to environment and sustainability.

4 Law n. 11/87, 7 April 1987.

5 Law n. 10/87, 4 April 1987.

6 For nature reserves and protected landscapes a spatial plan is mandatory when indicated in the piece of legislation that establishes them. Currently, 25 PAs have spatial plans in force. For an updated list see http://www2.icnf.pt/portal/pn/biodiversidade/ordgest/poap

7 To date, just one private PA has been recognised and integrated into the national network. This is the Faia Brava Reserve which was legally recognised in 2010 and is owned and managed by an NGO. Other sites managed by NGOs were incorporated into national PAs or became local PAs. For instance areas owned and managed by a national NGO are part of the Tejo Internacional Natural Park, while a site managed by a national NGO and a local environmental association was designated in 2009 as the local natural reserve of Paul da Tornada. Few other sites managed by NGOs are part of Natura 2000 classified areas.

Additional information

Funding

The first author also acknowledges the financial support of the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through the scholarship PD/BD/106025/2014 and through the PhD Program on Global Studies PD/FCT 00419/2012. CENSE - Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research is financed by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UID/AMB/04085/2019).