Social acceptance in coastal and marine protected areas: Port-cros national park (France)

Abstract

The effectiveness of marine protected areas is a timely issue, as the fight against biodiversity loss depends significantly on how effective these areas are. This article explores a key condition for meeting the challenge of improving conservation policies, as part of the global targets for biodiversity conservation, following the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The paper explores the determinants of social acceptance of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by local communities impacted directly by MPAs designation. We focus on the Port-Cros National Park (France), which was established in 1963. The park has seen its governance, perimeter and internal zoning evolve over time, generating local opposition and underlining the importance of acceptance by local communities. This article highlights the factors that play a role in the social acceptance of this National Park based on the results of a questionnaire survey including 569 residents of the municipalities in and around the protected area. The approach we followed is part of a European research project that has developed a methodological protocol to identify interactions between social parameters that characterise the level of support and has been applied in 20 national parks. Our results reveal a high level of social acceptance for the National Park, with four main factors influencing acceptance: perceptions of the social impacts of the park, trust in management authorities, sociodemographic characteristics and conditions for citizen participation. Spatial disparities are also demonstrated. Our analysis also enables us to explain the components of constrained acceptance: this opens possibilities to explore the conditions under which local communities can feel more empowered and participate in the governance of the protected area.