Stakeholder perspectives and gateway communities: revisiting Budowski’s framework through ecotourism dynamics in Lebanon’s Shouf Biosphere Reserve

Ecotourism in protected areas is increasingly recognized as a conservation tool and a pathway for sustainable development, yet its effectiveness depends on recognition and practice among local communities and stakeholders. This study revisits Budowski’s (1976. Tourism and environmental conservation: Conflict, coexistence, or symbiosis? Environmental Conservation, 3(1), 27–31) conflict–coexistence–symbiosis continuum by examining how stakeholders’ perspectives mediate tourism–conservation dynamics in Lebanon’s Shouf Biosphere Reserve (SBR). This study employed mixed-methods design combining structured survey of local visitors (n = 419) with 20 semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis of national policy, NGO reports, and media investigations. Quantitative findings reveal differential ecotourism awareness. Shouf residents and Visitors with tourism-related education exhibit stronger stewardship signaling emerging symbiosis, while others lack conceptual clarity, resulting in fragile coexistence and resistance to conservation rules. Qualitative results reveal discursive sustainability, concession creep, and fragmented governance reproducing coexistence or conflict, while environmental education demonstrate emerging forms of symbiosis. By mapping these mechanisms to Budowski’s framework, the study demonstrates that ecotourism’s contribution to symbiosis depends not solely on the tourism activity itself, but on the governance, equity, and learning processes that allow tourism to function as a genuine driver of conservation. The findings extend theoretical debates in ecotourism and environmental governance while offering a diagnostic lens for political pathways shaping protected landscapes.