Whose Landscape Is Protected? Rethinking Recreational Planning through Land Justice, Rural Revitalization, and Ecological Integrity

Land Management and Utilization

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Whose Landscape Is Protected? Rethinking Recreational Planning through Land Justice, Rural Revitalization, and Ecological Integrity

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https://doi.org/10.54963/lmu.v1i3.1887
Volume 1 Issue 3 (2025)
Copyright (c) 2025 Daniel Jacob, Imaobong Jacob, Koko Daniel, Uyime Akpan
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Authors

  • Daniel Jacob

    Forestry and Wildlife Department, University of Uyo, Uyo 520101, Nigeria
  • Imaobong Jacob

    Forestry and Wildlife Department, University of Uyo, Uyo 520101, Nigeria
  • Koko Daniel

    Forestry and Wildlife Department, University of Uyo, Uyo 520101, Nigeria
  • Uyime Akpan

    Forestry and Wildlife Department, University of Uyo, Uyo 520101, Nigeria

Received: 25 June 2025 | Revised: 17 August 2025 | Accepted: 20 August 2025 | Published Online: 5 September 2025

Protected landscapes have traditionally been designed as ecological sanctuaries, yet the question of whose interests they ultimately serve remains unresolved. This paper rethinks recreational planning through a justice-centered lens that integrates land rights, rural revitalization, and ecological integrity. Drawing from comparative experiences across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and North America, it examines how access, benefit-sharing, and governance shape both human and environmental outcomes. The analysis challenges exclusionary fortress conservation models that privilege biodiversity at the expense of community rights and introduces the Justice–Recreation–Ecology (JRE) framework as a holistic alternative. The JRE framework situates justice as the ethical foundation, recreation as the social mediator, and ecology as the biophysical boundary for sustainable landscape governance. To operationalize this, the study develops measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) across justice (participation, benefit retention, recognition of indigenous knowledge), recreation (visitor satisfaction, equitable access, and digital inclusion), and ecology (biodiversity intactness, restoration area, and ecosystem stability). It also explores the transformative potential of land informatization tools like GIS, remote sensing, and blockchain for transparent, participatory, and accountable monitoring. By embedding distributive, procedural, and recognition justice into recreational planning, the paper demonstrates that inclusive stewardship can simultaneously sustain biodiversity, empower communities, and revitalize rural economies. Consequently, reimagining protected landscapes through justice-oriented recreational planning transforms them from exclusionary spaces into shared socio-ecological commons capable of nurturing both resilience and belonging.

Keywords:

Recreational Planning Protected Landscapes Land Justice Rural Revitalization Ecological Integrity Participatory Governance Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Land Informatization

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