Abstract

MARDONES RIVERA, Gonzalo. Social capital of local communities in the buffer zone of a protected area in the temperate rainforest of southern Chile. Rev. Pilquen. secc. cienc. soc. [online]. 2021, vol.24, n.3, pp.14-26. ISSN 1851-3123.

Social capital is an organization s resource based on social relationships, so their properties can be key to identifying the social factors of success or failure for the conservation of nature. A study case is presented referring to the local communities in the buffer zone of two protected areas in the temperate rainforest of southern Chile. Through the development of semi-structured interviews with social leaders and the review of documentary information, social links were identified between community organizations with other social organizations at the local level or with institutions and organizations of local or regional scale with interest and / or influence in the study area. The results show that the community social capital presents high levels of internal cohesion, low linkage with other local actors and significant levels of integration with municipal/regional level actors, even though the volume and the quality of social capital are low. This research suggests difficulties to develop collaborative actions, in addition to significant levels of dependency, which is not favourable for a governance system based on principles of adaptive co-management.

Keywords : Social capital; Governance; Conservation; Protected areas.

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