Desarrollo, gestión de áreas protegidas y población local. El Parque Rural de Anaga (Tenerife, España)

Abstract

As an answer to the exportation of the concept of “development”, identified with the capitalist model of production and consumption, a series of approaches that draw our attention to the degradation of the natural resources are being generated. As a consequence, the number of designated natural protected areas in the world has considerably grown in the past decades. Declaring these areas as protected also restricts the use of their natural resources. Such restrictions can stand in the way of the social and economic development of communities that have lived in these now protected territories for centuries and relied on their wealth to survive. Therefore, it is a challenge for the international community to encourage the local population to take part in the planning and management of protected areas and to strengthen the potential development of these areas.