Evaluation of governance in protected areas. The case of British Columbia and Ontario (Canada)

Abstract

There is currently a wide diversity of management models for protected areas. As a result, there is a wide diversity of governance models too (who are the decision-makers, how are decisions taken, and how are various stakeholders involved in the decision making process).

Governance within management models for parks and protected areas can be analysed and evaluated using the UNDP governance criteria. Evaluation of governance using these governance criteria has been proven effective through studies undertaken for the British Columbia and Ontario’s provincial parks systems (Canada). Those studies not only compared both management models (combined public and for-profit, and parastatal, respectively), but also evaluated the different stakeholders’ perception of governance within each management model. The Ontario model was the best valued of both, although different results were obtained depending on the type of the surveyed stakeholder.