Community participation, governance, and environmental education as drivers of local sustainable development: Tutumberos community, Peruvian Amazon

Abstract

Sustainable development in indigenous communities relies intrinsically on the integration of natural resource management and local governance; however, there is scarce empirical evidence quantitatively modeling these interactions in Amazonian contexts. This study examines how community participation, local governance structures and environmental education interact to drive sustainable development at the local level in a remote indigenous community in the Peruvian Amazon. For this purpose, an explanatory-correlational design was employed, utilizing partial least squares structural equation modeling based on data collected from a sample of 142 residents. The results indicate that community participation significantly influences both conservation policies (β = 0.604, p < 0.001) and sustainable development outcomes (β = 0.490, p < 0.05). Although natural resources did not have a direct effect on development (p > 0.05), their impact was mediated through environmental education (β = 0.729, p < 0.001), which subsequently shaped conservation efforts (β = 0.312, p < 0.05). Policy implications emphasize strengthening local institutional capacity, enhancing environmental education programs, and integrating community-led governance into regional development planning to support long-term sustainability. Our findings contribute to understanding the multi-dimensional mechanisms of sustainable development in rural Amazonian settings and may inform practitioners and policymakers in similarly under-researched regions.