Análisis de equidad y participación en la reserva forestal de la cuenca alta del Río Bogotá: diseño y aplicación de una herramienta metodológica para la evaluación de gobernanza ambiental en áreas protegidas

Abstract

The study designs and applies a methodological tool to evaluate environmental governance in the Upper Bogotá River Basin Forest Reserve (ZRFCARB), focusing on equity through its dimensions of recognition, procedure, and distribution. The research concludes that there is a profound gap between the legal governance model (de jure), which calls for participatory and joint management, and the actual model (de facto), which operates in a centralized and unilateral manner by environmental authorities. This mismatch creates a "vicious cycle of inequity": the lack of recognition of the rights and knowledge of local communities leads to ineffective and merely formal participation procedures, resulting in an unfair distribution where communities bear the costs of conservation while the benefits are captured by external actors. The structural analysis identifies that power is concentrated in governmental and economic actors, marginalizing local communities. The study demonstrates that the socio-environmental conflicts and conservation ineffectiveness are direct consequences of this inequitable model, underscoring that fair and participatory governance is not an obstacle but a fundamental prerequisite for the sustainability of the protected area.