Paper short abstract:

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the impact of scientific discourse in protected areas, which acquire new meanings through ecotourism. We approach cases in the region of Madre de Dios (Peru) and Andalusia (Spain).

Paper long abstract:

Science as an interpretative discourse, and scientists as social actors, have played a key role in the process of redefining protected natural areas. 'Nature' has become the characteristic and distinguishing feature of these areas, and a global idea that transforms the meaning and guides the management of local places. Which criteria and consequences underlie this phenomenon? Using a comparative analysis of protected areas in Andalusia (Spain) and Madre de Dios (Peru), we aim to reflect on how, in these case studies, the scientific discourse has utilized Nature as a tool of legitimacy, a moral discourse, an aesthetic representation, and, increasingly, a commodity for economic activities such as ecotourism. In doing so, it has imposed a new set of 'game rules' within these areas, which involves: 1) the translation and re-interpretation of the meaning of local resources; and 2) a process of estrangement and peripheralization of the local population. As a result, a particular knowledge has been given precedence over other ways of understanding and interpreting the environment, and certain human-environmental relations have been favoured, affecting the livelihood of those who inhabit these places.