Tracing care in human-forest relations: how care rationales shape practices in national parks

This study examines how residents of two Latvian national parks express and practice care for forests, distinguishing between active care and letting be care and tracing the care rationales through which these practices are justified and made legitimate. Active care, which was more common, is closely tied to agrarian nationalist traditions that privilege order, productivity, and visible labour as markers of responsibility. Letting be care draws on biodiversity conservation and ecological humility, while also including attachments to familiar species. Using care as an analytical lens shows that similar practices may stem from diverse rationales, ranging from self-protection and aesthetic preference to ecological concern, often blurring boundaries between interest and responsibility for more-than-human life. The findings demonstrate that cultural expectations of order, tidiness, and legibility reinforce active care while marginalising letting be orientations, helping to explain tensions between residents and conservation authorities and informing more inclusive forest governance.