The Role of Trust in the Participatory Establishment of Protected Areas—Lessons Learnt from a Failed National Park Project in Switzerland

Michel, Annina Helena; Pleger, Lyn Ellen; von Atzigen, Aline; Bosello, Ottavia; Sager, Fritz; Hunziker, Marcel; Graefe, Olivier; Siegrist, Dominik; Backhaus, Norman

doi:10.1080/08941920.2021.1994679

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Michel, A. H., Pleger, L. E., von Atzigen, A., Bosello, O., Sager, F., Hunziker, M., Graefe, O., Siegrist, D., & Backhaus, N. (2022). The Role of Trust in the Participatory Establishment of Protected Areas—Lessons Learnt from a Failed National Park Project in Switzerland. Society & Natural Resources, 35(5), 487–505. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2021.1994679

Abstract

This article explores the reasons for the local rejection of a proposed national park in Switzerland. Using a mixed-methods approach and resorting to qualitative and quantitative data, we follow the thread of trust issues in the participatory planning process of a protected area. Different rationales and discourses, both project-specific but also more general, influenced the opinions of local stakeholders. Connecting these different opinions was the issue of (dis)trust, which weaves in and out of prominent lines of argumentation and i