Understanding conflict in protected areas: integrating justice considerations with economic perspectives

Despite broad agreement on the urgency of sustainability transitions that protect biodiversity, conservation conflicts continue to rise. This paper examines environmental conflicts in protected areas (PAs), highlighting the overlooked link between conflict and justice. Existing frameworks often fail to distinguish between conflict manifestations and determinants, or to integrate justice theories with economic perspectives. This study provides a comprehensive review of the literature to support the analysis of PA conflicts and develops a robust framework that integrates justice considerations with the economic perspective. Conflicts are viewed as inherent to complex social–ecological systems, shaped by social relations and rights over ecosystem services. The framework is structured around three analytical axes: substance (what the conflict is about), process (how it unfolds), and relation (who is involved with-whom). It differentiates between how conflicts appear (i.e., manifestation) and what causes them (i.e., determinants), framed through distributive, procedural, and recognition justice. This perspective challenges linear assumptions that conflicts always stem from injustices, emphasizing their potential to drive institutional change. The framework offers a novel approach to assessing justice-conflict dynamics in PAs governance, providing comprehensive toolkit for promoting equitable conservation strategies.