Social networks analysis for the governance of a protected area and its buffer zone in the temperate rainforest of southern Chile

Abstract

To move from management to governance of protected areas and surrounding areas requires the involvement and collaboration of local communities, as well as multiple actors involved in the conservation and development of territory. This paper presents an analysis of social networks of stakeholders with interest and/or influence in the buffer zone of Alerce Andino National Park (PNAA) and Llanquihue National Reserve (RNLL), located in the temperate rainforest of southern Chile. The results show that stakeholders involved in conservation and development operate on multiple geographical scales, and organized in a hierarchical structure of levels from local to regional. In addition, the social networks analysis suggests a low cohesion between actors, significant centralization, structural and functional fragmentation, high marginalization of actors, and low levels of integration among groups. Thus, this research shows that the social network that link stakeholders involved in the buffer zone of the PNAA and RNLL presents emerging properties that are not conducive adequate control, trust and regulatory systems, all of which hinders good governance of the protected area and its buffer zone, configuring an unfavourable scenario for the integration between conservation and development.