The involvement of non-state actors in the creation and management of protected areas: insights from the Portuguese case. Issue 9 (28th July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Iannuzzi, Giulia; Santos, Rui; Mourato, João Morais
• Is Part Of: Journal of environmental planning and management. Volume 63:Issue 9(2020)
• Page Start: 1674
• Page End: 1694
• Publication Date: 2020-07-28
• Subjects: nature conservation -- protected areas -- public participation -- private protected areas -- environmental governance; City planning -- Periodicals; City planning -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; Regional planning -- Periodicals; Regional planning -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; 333.7
• DOI: 10.1080/09640568.2019.1685475
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0964-0568

Abstract

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.