ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Tour.
Sec. Social Impact of Tourism
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsut.2025.1567048
Exploring collaborative governance and community participation in tourism and conservationinsights from Waiheke Island, New Zealand
Provisionally accepted
- Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
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Introduction: Balancing conservation efforts with tourism development poses significant challenges in Small islands. Waiheke Island, located in New Zealand's inner Hauraki Gulf, is both a popular residential location and a popular tourism destination facing similar challenges in governing tourism and conservation. This study examined the characteristics of the local residential community, conservation and tourism governance, the environmental and social impacts of tourism, and nature conservation efforts on the island.Methods: A qualitative case study approach was employed, involving interviews with stakeholders, field observation and review of secondary data sources. The research explored governance complexities, power imbalances, and stakeholder dynamics that shape community participation in tourism and conservation decision-making.Results and discussion: The findings reveal a complex governance landscape marked by both strengths and challenges. The research highlights the pivotal role of community-driven governance, with grassroots initiatives demonstrating remarkable adaptive capacity in addressing governance gaps. The Waiheke Local Board emerged as a crucial mediator between competing interests, while the integration of Māori perspectives through documents like Essentially Waiheke reflects growing recognition of indigenous knowledge systems. However, the study also uncovers tensions, including fragmented decision-making where regional authorities override local preferences, and the need for further inclusion of local views on governance. The current governance system, which is influenced by the environmental-socioeconomic dynamics, creates a paradox where effective actors (such as Formatted: Font: Bold
Keywords: tourism, collaborative governance, small islands, Social Impacts, Community participation, conservation, Waiheke Island Normal (Web), left
Received: 26 Jan 2025; Accepted: 12 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sarhan, Pernecky, Orams and Lueck. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mahmoud Sarhan, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
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