Mobilizing social capital and resilient collaborative networks for community benefit distribution: A forest tourism case from Chongqing National Park, China

The expansion of community entrepreneurship offers opportunities to link ecological protection with forest tourism. Utilizing constructivist grounded theory, this study investigates how social capital shapes community benefits in Chongqing Tea Mountain and Bamboo Forest Park. Based on 26 interviews, participatory observation, and documentary analysis, the findings reveal that institutional opportunities activate social capital, fostering resilient collaborative networks. These networks retain local benefits and generate multidimensional community outcomes, though inherent tensions that require adaptive responses. This study extends social capital theory and offers practical insights for sustainable community development.