Participatory process to prioritize actions for a sustainable management in a biosphere reserve

•There is a clear need for an evolution from conservation to more sustainable rural development.•The integration of participation methods with quantitative analysis is successful in reserves.•The participatory process in a reserve leads to social learning and relationship building.•Quantitative analysis allows to prioritize actions to improve sustainability in a reserve.•The involvement of decision makers in the design of the participatory process is essential

The aim of the study was to analyze a participation process for the implementation of a sustainable land management plan in the Urdaibai biosphere reserve in northern Spain. We have analyzed the forecasted changes that would result from the implementation of the participatory process, including a quantitative evaluation of actions needed to achieve the desired outcome. We integrated participatory methods with quantitative analysis, which has allowed us to successfully identify and prioritize the proposed actions. The participatory process has lead to social learning, relationship building and an enhancement of participants’ understanding of other perspectives. Moreover, quantitative analysis has allowed us to identify actions that would have more beneficial effects for the different properties held in the territory, so that we can prioritize needed actions depending on the properties that we want to improve. The participatory process highlighted the importance of taking measures for the more sustainable development of local communities in the biosphere reserve. We believe that this methodology could be readily applied in other biosphere reserves.