UC Santa Barbara

Despite advances in global ecosystem management, natural resource planning still often fails to incorporate cultural preferences and values. Spatial planning methods, particularly in coastal and marine contexts, tend to rely on data that relate biophysical processes and economic sector revenue. Consequently, a ‘missing layer’ of data that captures the people and communities involved prevents spatial planning from achieving its full potential (St. Martin and Hall-Arber, 2008). A critical question is therefore: how is decision-making within spatial planning affected by considering people’s ecosystem-related values and management preferences, in addition to layers of biophysical and economic sector data?

To address this over-arching question, this study employed integrated qualitative and quantitative research methods to examine (1) how mixed field research methods can shed light on which management paths to pursue when faced with tradeoffs among the various benefits provided by nature, (2) how people in developing world contexts who depend more directly on nature’s tangible benefits (e.g., livelihood sources) value intangible cultural benefits provided by ecosystems, and (3) how information on the cultural benefits of nature can inform environmental decision-making. In so doing, this study presents a methodological framework to elicit people’s ecosystem-related values and management preferences, shows how to decipher the importance of nature’s intangible benefits to the wellbeing of natural-resource dependent communities, and shares lessons learned from integrating the cultural benefits of nature into decisions concerning rural, undeveloped coastline in the Chiloé Archipelago, Chile.