This paper addresses Protected Area (PA) research gaps through an exploration of the plural nature of natural area values, using the three dimensions (intrinsic, instrumental, and relational) of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Conceptual Framework for values assessment. Research employs an online survey (n = 155), combining the Natural Area Value Scale (NAVS) and a fictional protected area decision making scenario to examine how visitor use planning participants in the Aysén Region of Chile assigned value to natural areas. Two relational values (aesthetics, recreation) emerge as the most highly assessed of the four NAVS dimensions in the study. Cluster analysis identified three distinct value orientation cluster groups, based on their NAV dimension ratings. Differences amongst the value cluster groups help identify potential power imbalances that have the potential to contribute to PA conflict. Comparisons of the user groups that local management authorities use to segment stakeholders reveal a number of similarities. Management scenario responses, which incorporate newly emerging relational value concepts, suggest that study participants incorporate plural value considerations and prefer solutions that include relational values.

Protected areas (PAs) worldwide are facing increasing visitation and complexity. Mounting pressures from the private sector are intensifying the risks associated with overtourism. The increasing strategic importance of PAs for the communities and regions in which they are situated requires improved management effectiveness; yet, recent studies indicate significant and growing systemic risk. Worldview analysis can be a valuable tool for building consciousness and informing the evolution of PA planning and management. Directed content analysis was used to examine two Visitor Use Plans developed for the Coyhaique National Reserve, located in the iconic Patagonia cultural area of southern Chile. The plans were developed using distinct planning frameworks, with different underlying assumptions. Research questions focused on how modernist, postmodernist and integral worldviews were expressed within the two plans. Worldviews were explored in both manifest and latent manners, considering plan text, models and overall context revealing patterns and links between the plans and planning frameworks that guided their development. Rich context and a thorough discussion of methods assists with the incorporation of worldview evaluation within PA management theory, informing the continuing development of knowledge and capacities that can better prepare PAs for future challenges.

This paper considers increasing global reliance on privately protected areas (PPAs) and associated nature-based tourism (NBT). A targeted literature review was guided by three research questions, which sought to understand how neoliberal concepts and dynamics manifest in private forms of conservation; how private forms of conservation have manifested in Chile; and, how Chileans’ attitudes towards their government’s neoliberal policies might affect their expectations of PPAs. The search strategy resulted in 284 resources. Three dimensions of neoliberal approaches to PPAs emerged from the data each highlighting specific vulnerabilities: a loss of the social embeddedness of nature; an imposition of global, capital dynamics; and conflicting discourses and assumptions. Results suggest that, in order to improve long-term support and integration of PPAs and NBT, greater attention needs to be given to social well-being outcomes (including equity and justice concerns), building of social capital, and the preservation of local identities and histories. Additionally, regional and PPA-specific land-use planning needs to incorporate greater public engagement, cross-jurisdictional coordination, and transparent and inclusive decision-making.

This paper built upon prior positive soundscapes research conducted within an urban context. It explored the potential for the emotional dimensions proposed by Cain and colleagues to be applied within a natural protected area (PA) context, at a soundscape level, as a complement to existing perceptual constructs of acceptability and personal interpretation (annoyance and pleasingness) of individual sounds. Visitor perceptions were measured (n = 898) for six soundscapes and individual sounds within Chile’s Coyhaique National Reserve (CNR), during the summer of 2018. Study results demonstrated parallels between the more urban-focused positive soundscapes work and sound perceptions within a PA context. The discussion focused on the potential and limitations of using Cain and colleagues’ emotional dimensions for PA soundscape evaluation, identifying benefits of a combined approach that also incorporates the perceptual constructs proposed by Miller and colleagues at an individual sound level.

Following global trends, nature-based tourism in the Aysén region of Chilean Patagonia has grown dramatically in recent years. This growth has challenged traditional economic activities derived from commodification of natural resources, including ranching, logging, and mining. A qualitative research study conducted in 2016–2017 used semi-structured interviews and focus groups to investigate how local residents perceived the changes that accompany rural development around the nationally protected area of Cerro Castillo, projected to be one of the region’s protected areas that will drive economic development through tourism in coming decades. Results identified several themes reminiscent of the rural transition that took place in the western United States in the mid to late-1900s. During this era, the remote, rugged, wild frontier lands of the sparsely populated intermountain west shifted from an economy grounded in extractive industries to a service-based one, geared towards amenity migrants and tourists seeking recreation opportunities and closeness to nature. Patterns and lessons are drawn between similar transitions across geographies and timescales, which may assist planners with understandings of trends and tendencies as tourism continues to influence rural transition in Patagonia.