Enforcing protected area guidelines in Brazil: What explains participation in the implementation process?

This article examines key factors that influence the participation of local actors in policy implementation. Specifically, it reviews case studies in the implementation of environmentally protected area (APA) policy at the local level in the state of Bahia, Brazil. The state created various APAs with the expectation that local actors would support the policy enforcement regimes, thereby reducing the need for a dramatic increase in state institutional capacity. As it turned out, local actors provided varying levels of support for the range of enforcement responsibilities. Based on empirical research conducted in seven APAs, this article identifies three principal factors that explain higher engagement by local actors: (1) the objective of the policy intervention at the local level, (2) the number of different localities involved in the same project or program, and (3) the timing of the involvement of local actors in the policy-making and implementation processes.