According to the European Landscape Convention, landscapes are how populations perceive and identify their territory. The evaluation of these landscapes and their preservation processes depends on a complex interaction of economic, socio‐demographic and cultural variables. In this paper, we present the results of a quantitative and qualitative study on the influences that gender, place of birth, occupation, income, level of education and proximity of residence to a protected environmental area have on people's evaluation of the process to declare a national park on the island of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands). The results show that the degree and type of involvement with the territory are the most significant variables related to the evaluation of such a process. These variables are essential to consider when reaching agreements with different groups of stakeholders in ‘step zero’ of the declaration of a protected area. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment