The National System of Protected Areas in Colombia. Conceptual developments from the socio-legal and environmental doctrine

Abstract

The purpose of this review article is to present the main theoretical approaches of the System of Protected Areas, from the conceptual developments generated by the socio legal and environmental doctrine. Based on these theoretical references, protected areas are defined from a systematic perspective analyzing the normative and institutional antecedents that regulate them, the concepts that define them and the characteristics that form them. Likewise, the objectives and purposes that the protected areas system must serve, on the analysis of an ecological function, participation and the guarantee of environmental rights and sustainable development, are discussed. It is concluded that as a system, protected areas are not only constituted by a regulatory and conceptual framework, but since they are integrated into an environmental legal system, they must meet a criterion of legitimacy.