Human Agency and Tourism Development in Natural National Parks in the Context of the Colombian Armed Conflict

Abstract

The goal of this research is to explore through evolutionary and relational economic geography how the human agency of local communities, organized armed groups, and the central government together shape the evolutionary trajectory of a national natural park as a tourist destination where armed conflict is present. The research was conducted in El Cocuy National Natural Park in Colombia and focuses on the period after the arrival of the High Mountain Battalion in 2003. Data collected from 11 key informants in semistructured interviews were analyzed with Atlas. ti and complemented with documentary analysis. The results show the dynamics of human agency in the National Natural Park and its effects at three levels: 1) local communities see their creative capacity and decision-making conditioned by power and control/pressures exerted by organized armed groups and the government; 2) the actions of organized armed groups control and limit ecotourism development; and 3) public regulations restrict these places' evolutionary pathways. Overall, actions derived from power relations exercised by the organized armed groups and the central government determined the evolutionary trajectory of the destination, reducing its adaptability to change, the empowerment of local communities, and its prospects.