Does Living in a Protected Area Reduce Resource Use and Promote Life Satisfaction? Survey Results from and Around Three Regional Nature Parks in Switzerland

Regional nature parks in Switzerland are, for the most part, protected areas that aim to promote sustainable development and residents’ well-being. In recent years, research on regional nature parks and comparable protected areas has focused on questions regarding local populations’ acceptance of such areas, their governance, and their economic effects. However, we know surprisingly little about the impact of protected areas on environmental resource use and life satisfaction, two essential ingredients of sustainable regional development. In this study, we survey people living in and around three regional nature parks in Switzerland on their resource use and life satisfaction (gross sample n = 3358). We propose a novel measurement of resource use based on vignettes describing different lifestyles, which we validate against the carbon footprint obtained for a subsample of our respondents. With these indicators, using multiple regression analyses, we test several hypotheses derived from the literature on the relationship between resource use and life satisfaction in and around protected areas. Contrary to our expectations, we do not find differences in resource use or life satisfaction, or the relationship between resource use and life satisfaction, across park and non-park regions. We discuss potential explanations for our findings and their implications for nature park authorities and future study designs.