Beyond Demographics: Incorporating Relational Values and Disvalues into Socio-Environmental Profiles of Landowners Adjacent to Cerro Castillo National Park, Chilean Patagonia

Land-use change is the primary direct driver of terrestrial biodiversity loss. Around Cerro Castillo National Park (PNCC) in Chilean Patagonia, rural land subdivision increased by 400% between 2011 and 2023, generating ecological, economic, and social pressures on the park and surrounding communities. Protected-area conservation requires integrating social and cultural dimensions that shape how territories are inhabited and transformed. This exploratory study analyzes how relational valuation contributes to understanding people–nature relationships by comparing two socio-environmental profiling models of landowners adjacent to PNCC. Based on 129 surveys, relational values and disvalues were coded from an open-ended question. Models were compared using Multiple Correspondence Analysis, Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components, and a Chi-square test. Although exploratory and non-generalizable, both models identified three profiles, with Model B offering a complementary characterization that emphasized relational orientations and pro-environmental preferences. These findings suggest that relational valuation can complement sociodemographic and territorial characterization by revealing differentiated ways in which landowners in this sample relate to nature and territory, including identity- and stewardship-oriented relationships, as well as relationships shaped by socio-environmental tensions. These exploratory insights provide a basis for further research and participatory validation in protected-area contexts and may inform differentiated conservation and land-use management strategies under rural subdivision pressures.