Do Economic Opportunities Offered by National Parks Affect Social Perceptions of Parks? A Study from the Polish Carpathians

The economic benefits of protected areas are at the core of the worldwide discourse about nature protection. The literature as well as simple logic suggest that economic benefits are likely to enhance positive attitudes toward the source of the benefits. However, the results of the present research project, based on both quantitative and qualitative (interview) data, covering 2 national parks in the Polish Carpathians. do not support this hypothesis. At the local level, the worst relationships between park authorities and local communities and governments were identified in municipalities that absorbed most of the park-generated money flows or at least maintained the most business relationships. primarily because of their physical proximity to the park's headquarters, enabling more frequent formal and informal contacts. By contrast, positive attitudes toward the parks usually came from more distant municipalities. This may be due to either a generally low importance of park-generated financial benefits for the local people in these areas or the limited impact of utilitarian arguments on their attitudes toward nature protection.