Using the capabilities approach to achieve people-centered conservation

Rodrigues, Arthur and Melo, Felipe and Alencar, Lucas and Fraser, James and Parry, Luke (2026) Using the capabilities approach to achieve people-centered conservation. Conservation Biology. ISSN 0888-8892 (In Press)

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Abstract

Top-down interventions by state and non-state institutions to conserve biodiversity and improve the lives of forest-proximate people (FPP) in the Global South tend to reflect economistic understandings of human wellbeing. More progressive people-centered conservation projects are rightly guided by normative visions of how the world should be, yet social dimensions of project design, planning and evaluation often remain focused on quantifiable aspects of wellbeing. Conversely, we demonstrate here how thinking about human wellbeing in qualitative terms of freedom and dignity can help achieve rights-based, people-centered conservation. We apply the capabilities approach, a social theory that emphasizes marginalized people’s freedom to live a life they have reason to value. First, we systematically reviewed global English-language literature to assess how the capabilities approach has been used conceptually and empirically to examine the wellbeing of FPP. Based on 31 core, methodologically-diverse studies from 16 countries we found: (1) equitable access to forest resources is essential for the flourishing of FPP because access constraints are barriers to realizing development as freedom; (2) creating capabilities for FPP requires strong, local, social institutions; (3) forest-dwellers’ agency (someone’s power to act of their own volition) to pursue valued capabilities is often deeply embedded in collective structures. Accordingly, we present a framework to guide how people-centered conservation actions can promote the flourishing of FPP. We apply this framework to the Brazilian Caatinga dry forest, characterized by diverse usage of forest resources and deep social inequities, finding diverse examples of conservation practices and their mixed influences on the lives of people in this biome. In conclusion, adopting the capabilities approach can help ensure that people-centered conservation initiatives uphold forest-dwellers' rights and prioritize their subjective wellbeing, whilst striving for sustainability.