A conceptual framework for understanding the accessibility of protected area benefits

Protected area (PA) management for biodiversity conservation involves controlling which resources are made accessible, and to whom. PA accessibility is not only central to the long-term effectiveness of PA management but also for the equitable distribution of PA benefits. Despite its importance, information about PA accessibility is fragmented. Conservation currently lacks a cohesive framework that explains (i) what is required for different individuals to derive PA benefits and (ii) how conservation institutions can create opportunities to access these benefits. To address this gap, we draw on ideas from healthcare to conceptualise and define access as the set of available opportunities to benefit from PAs. Our framework defines PA access as a process that involves first perceiving PAs as sources of benefits and then having opportunities to seek, reach, use and engage with services that ultimately generate an individual or collective benefit. We describe the elements of the framework drawing parallels with conservation literature and illustrate its application using a case study examining PA accessibility for two stakeholder groups. The framework proposes a way of explicitly integrating individuals’ socio-economic positionality into access analysis, revealing how access management decisions and other accessibility features create differential opportunities at each of these steps. Assessing PA management outcomes through the access framework makes implicit access barriers visible and identifies specific intervention points for improving equity in PA access.