Abstract
Historically, Portuguese protected areas (PAs) have
been operating under top-down governance, often neglecting local communities.
In 2019, the Portuguese government established a new governance model for PAs,
based on co-management. The new co-management approach emphasizes collaborative
and participatory governance and positions sustainable tourism as a catalyst
for territorial revitalization and local development. However, local
communities’ attitudes and perceptions regarding tourism in these areas remain
largely uncharted. This study focuses on the Alvão Natural Park (PNAL), a small
rural and mountainous Portuguese PA, which is currently in the early stages of
co-management implementation. Our goal was to investigate local residents'
perceptions of tourism's impacts and identify potential divergence among
resident groups and their level of support for tourism development. These
insights are pivotal because the active engagement of local communities is a
key element for sustainable tourism development and the successful
implementation of co-management. The study employed a self-administered survey,
garnering responses from 250 PNAL residents representing over half of the
park's population. Factor analysis identified four primary perceptual
dimensions and cluster analysis classified residents into three distinct groups
based on their tourism perceptions. While most PNAL residents express support
for tourism development, there is a resounding call for new policies to revert
the legacy of top-down governance. This research provides essential insights
for shaping effective tourism policies, planning and development strategies,
and ensuring the active involvement of local communities in co-management and
sustainable development efforts within the PNAL. Moreover, this study
demonstrates the applicability of this research approach in the context of
evolving governance models with the potential for adaptation to other PAs
across Portugal and other countries undergoing similar governance transitions.
Keywords:
protected area; local communities; co-management; sustainable tourism
development; Portugal
Luís Filipe Silva
José Cadima Ribeiro
Francisco Carballo-Cruz
(Comunicação apresentada no 63rd ERSA Congress (2024), organizado
pela European Regional Science Association, de 26 a 30 de agosto de 2024, na
Ilha Terceira, Açores, Portugal)