This paper explores the role of social capital and governance in rural
development within Slovensky Raj National Park. Based on the theory of
common pool resources and network governance, the case study explores the
external and internal influences on cooperation. Current decision making in
the Park is still affected by post socialist relations. In particular inefficient
institutional design and non-robust governance of the resources have
resulted in over-exploitation of natural resources and treating common
property as open-access. Evidence emerged of domination of interpersonal
trust and failure of institutional design. These were found as barriers for the
National Park to be viewed by various actors as an asset. Concurrently,
municipal and tourism networks reveal that cooperation is gradually moving
from being externally to internally driven, while displaying characteristics of
bottom-up development. A hierarchical governance structure is thus slowly
opening up, shifting towards networks