Non-Market Social Value and Conservation in a Tourist Corridor of a Protected Natural Area: Evidence from the Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve (Peru)

The conservation of ecosystems and the sustainable management of protected natural areas represent key challenges for rural territories that aim to reconcile environmental protection with local development [1]. In this regard, tourism has emerged as an important strategy for valuing natural and cultural resources while contributing to both conservation and community wellbeing [2]. Experiential and sustainable tourism can generate economic opportunities for local populations, respect environmental limits, and reinforce local social structures [3-5]. Therefore, tourism policies in protected natural areas should adopt an integrated approach that incorporates social, economic, and territorial dimensions, while fostering inclusive governance, responsible use of resources, and long-term ecosystem conservation [6-10].

In this context, the Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve, located in the Arequipa region, constitutes a relevant case due to its remarkable biodiversity and the cultural richness of the communities living in its surroundings [11]. The promotion of experiential tourism in this reserve requires a comprehensive evaluation of its impacts, considering not only economic benefits but also the social, cultural, and environmental dimensions closely linked to conservation processes [12]. For this reason, it is necessary to adopt an approach that can account for the diverse values generated by these places, including the social, cultural, and environmental benefits that are often not reflected in conventional economic assessments [12, 13].

In this regard, the Polyhedral Social Accounting Model (SPOLY) can help to partially address this need by making visible forms of value that are not captured through conventional economic assessments [14-16]. Within this framework, non-market social value is understood as the value created for stakeholders through non-market relationships, that is, benefits generated without a direct financial transaction but still perceived as relevant by the actors involved. This perspective is closely related to stakeholder support, trust, social exchange processes, and the experiential dimensions associated with tourism development [17-19]. In addition, non-market value has been conceptualized as a relevant outcome perceived by stakeholders even in the absence of direct economic transactions [14, 15]. These benefits may include improvements in community wellbeing, cultural strengthening, environmental care, and other collective outcomes that are not reflected in direct revenues or observable market prices [14, 20].

Methodologically, this approach is especially useful because it begins with the identification of value variables perceived by stakeholders, mainly through phenomenological or in-depth interviews, and subsequently translates those variables into indicators, outputs, and financial proxies that allow their indirect monetization [20]. In this sense, SPOLY is particularly appropriate for the present study, since the proposed tourist corridor has not yet been fully implemented and many of its expected effects are collective, intangible, and only partially observable through market data [20]. Thus, the model provides a structured way to estimate non-market social value from stakeholder perceptions and to integrate those results into a broader assessment of the corridor’s contribution to conservation and local development [15, 20].

The qualitative sample was selected through an exploratory and purposive strategy. Participants were not chosen statistically, but intentionally, according to their role, knowledge, experience, and direct relationship with the proposed corridor. This strategy made it possible to include actors who could provide relevant information about expected benefits, local needs, implementation conditions, and possible externalities. The final sample consisted of 42 participants: 32 community members and 10 tourism entrepreneurs and public authorities directly linked to the corridor. The sample size was defined according to theoretical saturation criteria, ensuring the inclusion of diverse perspectives from different communities and stakeholder groups.

Data were collected through two questionnaires adapted from previous studies [28, 40]. These instruments addressed perceived impacts, visible improvements, signs of progress, community needs, and expected social value dimensions. Validation was carried out through expert judgement with the participation of five specialists. Fieldwork was conducted between November 2024 and February 2025, and the information collected was analyzed through a triangulation process integrating interviews, documentary review, and field observation.

To improve methodological transparency, the procedure used to estimate non-market social value was organized as a sequential process. First, relevant stakeholders were identified through an exploratory selection strategy. Second, qualitative evidence was collected through interviews, field observation, and documentary review. Third, stakeholder perceptions were analyzed to identify value variables associated with the proposed corridor. Fourth, these variables were operationalized into indicators and ex ante outputs. Fifth, monetary proxies and calculation algorithms were assigned. Finally, the non-market social value was estimated through the SPOLY process. This step-by-step sequence is summarized in Figure 2.

Within the Integrated Social Value framework, SPOLY was used as the operational process for estimating non-market social value [15, 20, 49-50]. In this study, non-market social value was not directly observed in market transactions; instead, it was indirectly estimated from the value perceived by stakeholders through a structured procedure. The interviews were used to identify the main needs, expected benefits, missing conditions, and enabling factors associated with the future implementation of the tourist corridor. This made it possible to detect not only expected positive effects, but also the items, services, and territorial conditions that were not yet present and were considered necessary for the corridor’s viability and sustainability.

The qualitative findings were then grouped into value variables representing the principal dimensions of perceived non-market social value. These included employment and family income generation, improvement of accommodation and basic services, increase in visitor flows and cultural visibility, environmental conservation and pollution control, and training and formalization of tourism management. In SPOLY terms, these value variables constituted the basis for the later definition of indicators, outputs, and proxies [50, 51].

These value variables were subsequently operationalized into indicators and ex ante outputs. Because the tourist corridor had not yet been fully implemented, the outputs used in the SPOLY estimation were not treated as currently observed results, but as empirically grounded scenario estimates derived from stakeholder expectations, field observation, triangulated evidence, and expert validation [47, 48]. In other words, the interviews did not directly produce the final monetary figures; rather, they provided the qualitative basis for identifying what kinds of value, needs, and expected outcomes were considered relevant by stakeholders.

After defining the outputs, each one was linked to a monetary proxy based on local reference prices or equivalent market values available during the study period. Algorithms were then applied to combine outputs and proxies in order to estimate the monetary expression of the corresponding non-market social value. Therefore, the resulting figures should be interpreted as structured indirect estimations of stakeholder-perceived value rather than as direct market values or observed financial returns [15, 20, 49-51].

MACTOR analysis was used as a complementary tool to examine relationships among stakeholder groups, particularly their influence, dependence, and convergence in relation to the proposed corridor [45, 46]. In this sense, MACTOR supported the interpretation of the stakeholder structure surrounding the initiative, but it did not generate the monetary values reported in the SPOLY estimation. Its function was analytical and relational rather than monetizing.

For the MACTOR analysis, the 42 interviewees were not treated as individual actors, but were grouped into five stakeholder categories according to their role in the territory and their relation to the proposed tourist corridor: community residents (A1), community leaders (A2), representatives of tourism organizations or tourism entrepreneurs (A3), local authorities (A4), and government representatives linked to the protected area, including the National Service of Natural Protected Areas by the State (Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado, SERNANP) (A5). The strategic objectives used in the relational analysis were defined by grouping the main expected impacts repeatedly identified in the interviews and later operationalized as value variables in the SPOLY estimation.

The broader qualitative analysis process used to integrate interviews, documentary review, and field observation is presented in Figure 3. This figure complements the procedural sequence shown in Figure 2 by illustrating how the qualitative diagnosis, triangulation, and analytical interpretation supported the construction of the results.

Throughout the study, the ethical principles of social research were respected, including confidentiality, informed consent, and proper citation of sources. All participants were informed about the purpose of the study before the interviews were conducted. Participation was voluntary, and informed consent was obtained prior to data collection. To protect confidentiality, participants’ names were not recorded in the analytical sections and were replaced by codes linked to communities or stakeholder groups. The information collected was used exclusively for academic purposes and analyzed in aggregate form. No sensitive personal data were included in the study.

The estimated non-market social value of the proposed tourist corridor, S/ 311,030, suggests that experiential tourism in the Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve should not be understood only as a revenue-generating activity, but as a governance issue involving the distribution of collective benefits, conservation responsibilities, and territorial priorities. In this sense, the main contribution of the study is not merely to show that tourism can generate value beyond direct expenditure, but to demonstrate that many of the most relevant expected effects in protected areas are non-market in nature and therefore remain invisible if planning is based only on visitor numbers, spending, or financial return. The findings therefore complement the broader literature on social value by showing that, in protected natural areas, tourism governance must also account for community wellbeing, environmental control, cultural continuity, and enabling territorial conditions as central dimensions of decision making [14, 15, 21, 22].

A second important implication concerns the internal distribution of that value. Accommodation (33.66%) and increased employment (24.69%) together account for 58.35% of the estimated total, followed by pollution reduction (11.66%), Wi-Fi access (10.51%), water services (7.93%), and road improvements (6.43%). This distribution is theoretically meaningful because it shows that stakeholders do not prioritize tourism value in abstract terms, but in relation to the practical and territorial conditions that make tourism viable and socially legitimate. In other words, the largest shares of value are concentrated not in promotional or symbolic dimensions, but in those conditions that sustain everyday life and make participation in tourism possible. This finding adds nuance to existing debates on protected area governance by suggesting that community support for tourism is not only linked to expected income, but also to the extent to which tourism contributes to local infrastructure, service provision, and the reduction of environmental risks [24-26].

This point is especially relevant when compared with other valuation approaches. Studies using SROI or contingent valuation have shown that tourism and conservation can generate measurable social benefits or willingness to pay [16, 33], but the present findings indicate that the governance value of tourism in protected areas cannot be reduced either to return-on-investment logic or to stated preferences alone. What emerges here is a more territorially embedded form of value, one that depends on stakeholder perceptions of whether tourism improves the material and organizational conditions of community life while remaining compatible with conservation. From this perspective, non-market social value does not simply complement economic valuation; it also challenges governance approaches that privilege market indicators while overlooking the enabling conditions required for equitable and conservation-compatible tourism development [15, 37, 40].

Another important contribution of the findings is that they reposition conservation within tourism governance rather than treating it as an external constraint. Pollution reduction, water services, digital connectivity, and community-oriented infrastructure account for a substantial share of the estimated value, which indicates that stakeholders perceive tourism as acceptable and valuable when it is linked to environmental care, quality-of-life improvements, and controlled territorial management. This complements the literature on protected areas by suggesting that governance should not be framed as a trade-off between tourism and conservation only. Instead, the findings support the idea that tourism can become a conservation-compatible territorial strategy when governance arrangements are able to align local benefits with environmental protection, infrastructure provision, and collective regulation [9, 27, 43]. In this sense, the estimated value structure highlights that non-market benefits are not peripheral to governance; they are part of the conditions that make governance workable.

The interviews reinforce this interpretation. Stakeholders repeatedly associated the corridor with higher family income, greater employment opportunities, stronger cultural visibility, and better conditions for accommodation and services. At the same time, they also identified risks related to weak organization, insufficient technical support, limited infrastructure, and environmental deterioration. This duality is significant because it shows that non-market social value is not simply a list of expected benefits; it also reflects the governance conditions under which those benefits may or may not materialize. The findings therefore complement theories of community-based and experiential tourism by showing that support for tourism in protected areas depends not only on demand or product attractiveness, but also on trust, organizational capacity, institutional backing, and the perception that tourism will be managed in ways that distribute responsibilities and benefits fairly [17-19, 42].

The MACTOR results deepen this governance interpretation. Community residents occupy the strongest position in terms of influence, while community leaders remain important but more dependent on other actors. At the same time, residents, community leaders, and tourism organizations form the main convergence cluster around the corridor’s strategic objectives. This means that the core support for the corridor is socially embedded in community and tourism actors rather than in the state actors linked to the protected area. Theoretically, this matters because it reveals a governance configuration in which local legitimacy is strong, but institutional articulation remains uneven. Rather than interpreting this only as a coordination problem, the findings suggest that governance in protected areas depends on how local influence is connected to formal decision-making structures, technical support, and conservation rules. If this articulation is weak, tourism initiatives may have local support but still lack the institutional capacity needed for long-term implementation [43-48].

From this perspective, the proposed corridor should be understood as a multidimensional territorial strategy rather than as a simple tourism product. Its expected value lies in the combination of employment, accommodation, basic services, environmental control, cultural visibility, and community organization. The governance implication is that future implementation should prioritize those dimensions in which value is most strongly concentrated, while also strengthening institutional coordination, monitoring mechanisms, and conservation-compatible rules. In practical terms, this means that planning in protected areas should incorporate non-market social value not only as an evaluative result, but also as a criterion for prioritizing investment, sequencing interventions, and aligning tourism development with territorial and environmental governance.

Finally, the study also contributes methodologically by showing that the SPOLY framework can be applied ex ante to estimate the potential social value of a tourism proposal before full implementation. This is relevant for protected area governance because decision making often takes place under conditions of uncertainty, before impacts can be directly observed in markets or in long-term visitor statistics. In such contexts, the ex ante estimation of non-market social value can function as a prospective tool for identifying priority dimensions, anticipating governance tensions, and supporting conservation-oriented planning. Therefore, beyond the specific case of the Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve, the findings suggest that non-market social value can play a strategic role in the design of tourism policies and interventions in protected natural areas where collective benefits, environmental responsibilities, and stakeholder coordination are inseparable [15, 20, 47, 48].