Abstract

The Austral Macrozone of Chilean Patagonia (Aysén and Magallanes Regions) is home to 80% of the total area of the 106 protected areas (PAs) of the National System of Wildlife Protected Areas (SNASPE), and many of its PAs are experiencing intense socio-environmental challenges related to the balance between effective conservation and growing tourism development, in the face of uncertainty and change. This chapter takes an in-depth look at the causal chains for sustainable tourism development within the Cerro Castillo and Torres del Paine National Parks, using Ante Mandić’s (Environ Syst Decis 40(4):560–576, 2020) conception of the Drivers, Pressures, State, Impact, and Response ( DPSIR) model for advancing the sustainability of PAs that are managing nature-based tourism growth. Outcomes of the study represent an important first step for developing a better understanding of the causal chains related to the economic, social, and environmental dynamics of tourism in PAs within Chilean Patagonia and validate the value of moving forward with Mandić’s (Environ Syst Decis 40(4):560–576, 2020) to advance understanding of tourism’s effects on their conservation and management and thus, improve their potential for sustainability.