A diverse group of people on a mountain peak overlooking a landscape symbolizing tourism and conservation values.

Nature's Balancing Act: Can Tourism and Conservation Coexist in Protected Areas?

Elliot Brynn in Climate & Environment August 2025 • 4 min read.

"Discover how spatial analysis helps manage conflicts between locals and tourists in natural paradises."

Protected areas, once focused solely on preserving wilderness, now face the challenge of balancing conservation with public access and community benefits. This often involves attracting tourists to stimulate local economies, but it can also lead to conflicts with existing park uses and local resource management.

The rise in nature-based tourism requires a more nuanced approach to managing protected areas. It's crucial to understand and weigh the values of different user groups to avoid antagonism. Assessing these values, especially concerning specific places, helps managers cater to tourists' preferences while safeguarding the interests of local communities.

Web-based Public Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) have emerged as valuable tools for identifying protected area values. By allowing the public to map their preferences and experiences, PPGIS provides spatially explicit data that informs decision-making and minimizes potential conflicts.

Understanding Place-Based Values: The Key to Harmony

A diverse group of people on a mountain peak overlooking a landscape symbolizing tourism and conservation values.

Values are the guiding principles that inform people's judgments and actions. In the context of protected areas, understanding place-based values—the importance or worth people assign to specific locations—is essential. These values are shaped by a combination of assigned values (how places are valued) and held values (people's underlying beliefs).

These values also affect visitor spatial behavior. Understanding visitor movement patterns through protected areas can improve management. Planning for increased tourism requires identifying spatial valuation zones for both local users and visitors. This allows managers to separate, limit, disperse, or channelize tourism to desired locations.

Scenic Landscapes and Recreation: These are often high priorities for all user groups.
Local Cultural Values: These may include hunting, fishing, gathering, and cultural identity, which are often more pronounced among local users.
Consumptive vs. Non-Consumptive Uses: Potential conflicts may arise between these different types of activities.

By understanding the nuances of how different groups value protected areas, managers can develop strategies that promote tourism while respecting local traditions and conservation goals. This approach fosters a sense of shared stewardship and minimizes potential conflicts.

Looking Ahead: Balancing Tourism and Local Needs

The use of web-based PPGIS provides an opportunity to collect a large amount of data to identify areas that were most valued by locals, domestic- and international visitors. The methods we demonstrate here can inform strategies to avoid conflict or reduce overuse. For instance spatial zoning of national park users could be achieved via information and marketing, directing conflicting users to the areas we identify as less important for user groups with different values.

About this Article -

This article was crafted using a human-AI hybrid and collaborative approach. AI assisted our team with initial drafting, research insights, identifying key questions, and image generation. Our human editors guided topic selection, defined the angle, structured the content, ensured factual accuracy and relevance, refined the tone, and conducted thorough editing to deliver helpful, high-quality information.See our About page for more information.

This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.1016/j.tourman.2018.07.015, Alternate LINK

Title: Identifying Spatial Overlap In The Values Of Locals, Domestic- And International Tourists To Protected Areas

Subject: Strategy and Management

Journal: Tourism Management

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Authors: Lorena Muñoz, Vera Hausner, Greg Brown, Claire Runge, Per Fauchald

Published: 2019-04-01

Everything You Need To Know

What role does spatial analysis play in managing protected areas?

Spatial analysis helps manage conflicts between locals and tourists by understanding the spatial overlap of values. This involves identifying how different user groups, like locals, domestic tourists, and international visitors, value specific places within the protected area. By analyzing these place-based values, managers can develop strategies to balance tourism with conservation and local needs, promoting shared stewardship and minimizing conflicts. The use of web-based PPGIS is a key tool in this process.

How do place-based values influence the management of protected areas?

Understanding place-based values is crucial for effective management. These values, which are the importance people assign to specific locations, are shaped by assigned values and held values. They influence visitor spatial behavior and are essential for planning purposes. Managers can use this understanding to create spatial valuation zones, allowing them to separate, limit, disperse, or channelize tourism. This approach ensures that tourism aligns with local traditions and conservation goals, therefore reducing potential conflicts between different user groups.

What are the key differences between consumptive and non-consumptive uses in protected areas, and why are they important?

Consumptive uses involve activities that directly use resources, such as hunting, fishing, and gathering, often associated with local cultural values. Non-consumptive uses involve activities like scenic viewing and recreation. The main point here is that there can be conflicts arise between them. The recognition of consumptive vs non consumptive uses is important because these different activities can create conflicts that management strategies must address. By understanding the nuances of these uses and the values associated with them, managers can develop strategies that accommodate tourism while also protecting local traditions and conservation goals, thus promoting harmony within the protected areas.

How can Web-based Public Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) be used to improve the management of protected areas?

Web-based PPGIS is a valuable tool for gathering spatially explicit data on protected area values. It allows the public, including locals, domestic tourists, and international visitors, to map their preferences and experiences. By collecting a large amount of data, PPGIS helps identify areas most valued by different groups. This information informs decision-making, minimizes potential conflicts, and supports strategies for spatial zoning. For instance, managers can use this data to direct conflicting users to areas that are less important to specific user groups, thus reducing overuse.

What strategies can be used to balance tourism and local needs in protected areas, according to the provided context?

To balance tourism and local needs, managers can use several strategies based on understanding place-based values. The first one is to identify spatial valuation zones. Using information and marketing, managers can direct conflicting users to the areas we identify as less important for user groups with different values. They can separate, limit, disperse, or channelize tourism to protect the priority values of different groups. The use of web-based PPGIS is central to these strategies, enabling data collection and informed decision-making.