Critical Issues in Managing Protected Areas by Multi-Stakeholder Participation – Analysis of a Process in the Swiss Alps

There is common agreement in discourses on nature protection that it can only succeed if local participation in conservation measures is granted. In the region of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch a multi-stakeholder participatory process was initiated to negotiate concrete objectives for the World Heritage Site Jungfrau-Aletsch. In this way persistent conflicting expectations should be overcome and ownership and common responsibility for the region enhanced. In this paper we critically reflect this multi-stakeholder participatory process and evaluate three core issues, which we regard as decisive in participatory processes: conflict resolution, power play, and continued participation. We conclude that participatory processes support mutual learning, but at the same time inherent multilevel power play can threaten continued participation.