A cross‐national comparative study on collaborative management of national parks

Abstract

National Parks (NPs) are established with the aim of protecting important natural environments. However, numerous conflicts have emerged due to the introduction of park rules restricting local communities from utilising resources within national parks. The aim of this paper is to examine ways in which national parks in various nations employ the collaboration of stakeholders in park management and conflict resolution by focusing on four countries: Germany, Japan, Nigeria and Vietnam. A review of literature available in multiple languages, analysis of administrative documents and informal interview were the methods adopted. We show that challenges hindering comanagement in the four countries range from unclear responsibilities of various actors, to weak institutionalised framework, and centralisation of park management. The result implicates that each country can learn different techniques of co-management from other countries, leading to more productive approaches towards national park management and conflict resolution in and around national parks.