In Pursuit of Socially Just Conservation: Operationalizing Capability Thinking to Evaluate Human Well-Being in Protected Places

Aligning Amartya Sen’s capability approach with the concept of place attachment provides a promising way to make comparative assessments of conservation-related impacts on human well-being. Members of Indigenous communities managed their physical environment long before Western-inspired conservation initiatives imposed external practices, making it a matter of justice to consider conservation’s effects on specific groups. Evaluating well-being in terms of capabilities—people’s genuine opportunities to do and be what they have reason to value—prioritizes the expansion of individual and collective freedom of choice and action. Place attachment is one aspect of human well-being that arises when particular social and physical landscapes enable feelings of safety and security, support the fulfillment of goals, and promote cultural continuity. Using place attachment as a unifying concept within the capability approach enriches the framework by encompassing the influences of both the physical environment and socioeconomic conditions. A combined perspective also facilitates the empirical application of the capability approach across populations with varying value systems. We present a methodology for applying capability thinking in conservation research, accommodating the multidimensional and context-dependent impacts on communities while enabling generalizable insights into the relationship between protected areas, quality of life, and environmental justice.