Expanding protected areas: a case for repairing intergenerational social capital rather than taking the path of least resistance

Abstract

With many international entities pushing for the protection of 30% of terrestrial and marine habitat by 2030 through the 30x30 global initiative, the expansion of protected areas (PA) will inevitably interface with populations carrying lived experiences of PA management as well as their community’s collective memory of how the promises and outcomes of previous PA establishments materialized. One community recently experiencing a government’s desire to expand a PA is the Ngöbe Indigenous community of Salt Creek, located in and around the Bastimentos Island National Marine Park in Bocas del Toro, Panama. This qualitative case study applies an intergenerational social capital lens to demonstrate that time does not heal past grievances with park administration as broken social capital is a type of intergenerational trauma. It is suggested that repairing social capital is vital to achieving future sustainable tourism and global PA targets but will be a long and intentional process to overcome the collective memory of broken promises. While governments may find it expedient to expand PAs in areas with less resistance, we suggest the investment in repairing social capital will likely lead to better social and environmental outcomes and better align with the ethos of sustainable tourism and collaborative governance.