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This paper explores how landscape research can contribute to our understanding of why integrated protected area concepts like biosphere reserves get less recognition than national parks. In this regard, we analysed policy documents and online communication of biosphere reserves and national parks, conducted qualitative interviews with conservation professionals and volunteers as well as participant observation in order to identify and compare narratives that guide the communication and perception of both protected area categories. The results show how national parks offer a clear interpretation of space by building on landscape stereotypes and creating landscape legibility and experience-ability through touristification. National Parks also experience conflicts about proper management and combine a variety of goals, often including regional development. Nevertheless, their narrative is unambiguous and powerful. Biosphere reserves, on the other hand, have an image problem that is essentially due to the difficulty of communicating their objectives. They confront the difficult task of creating a vision that combines development and conservation while integrating contrarious landscape stereotypes. We argue for a fundamental engagement with protected area narratives, as this improves understanding of protected areas’ transformative potential.
Alpinism, skateboarding and surfing are activities related to specific landscapes—I will explore how in these three activities, engagement with landscapes is experienced as meaningful. This essay is guided by the assumption that analyzing playful engagement with landscapes can contribute to our understanding of socially widespread landscape preferences, as play and recreation are important factors in socialization. Thinking about play generally promises to bring us closer to the question of the good life. How do we want to live and what role does landscape play in this? Mountaineers and surfers certainly have answers to such questions. I argue that specific skills and knowledge are developed in the confrontation with landscape. Based on these expert skills and knowledge, interpretations of landscape become possible that do not occur in an everyday perspective on landscape. Alpinism corresponds most directly to the mythical structure of the hero’s journey—in other words, the archetype of adventure. In surfing and skateboarding, playfulness is cultivated more, but all three enable self-efficacy. Learning and improving through these experiences further develops landscape interpretations and landscape-related skills.
Many cultures have a long history of relating to forests and trees. Forest and tree motifs have been used throughout cultural history to reflect on human-nature relationships. Beginning in the nineteenth century, forests became popular through outdoor recreation and tourism. At the same time nature conservation in modern protected areas was invented. Both phenomena were sparked by an increasing appreciation of the sublimity of nature. In the twentieth century, tourism became part of forest conservation strategies. With reference to examples from North America and Europe we discuss the possibilities and limitations that tourism offers for forest conservation.