Social Values For Ecosystem Services Research Articles

A social-ecological approach for identifying and mapping ecosystem service trade-offs and conservation priorities in peri-urban areas.

Considering both ecological and social dimensions in the assessment of ecosystem services (ESs) can facilitate acceptable and inclusive management strategies, especially in peri-urban areas characterized by intricate human-ecosystem interactions. A limited body of research, however, has mapped the plural values of ESs and their different types of trade-offs in such areas. This research aimed to execute an interdisciplinary analysis of the biophysical and social values of ESs in peri-urban Shanghai, China, through a social-ecological approach that integrates spatial biophysical assessment with participatory mapping. Trade-off analysis in both ES types and ES valuations were then conducted, and multicriteria decision-making was applied for conservation. Our results reveal that trade-off intensities were lower within the social values compared to the biophysical values. Within both value dimensions, relatively stronger trade-offs were found between food production and other ESs. Areas with both high biophysical and social values were infrequently observed across ESs. Based on the characteristics of diverse values, our study identified priority conservation areas and provided management implications. We argue that adopting the integrated social-ecological perspective in sustainable environmental management contributes to the realization of harmonious coexistence between people and nature in peri-urban areas.

Mapping development preferences on the perceived value of ecosystem services and land use conflict and compatibility in Greater Kuala Lumpur

Rapid and unplanned development can diminish the social values for ecosystem services associated with urban landscapes. Tropical Global South cities, such as Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL), Malaysia, that are highly biodiverse, are particularly vulnerable to the fragmentation and loss of natural ecosystems. This study investigates the social values for ecosystem services in GKL, a rapidly urbanising metropolitan area in Southeast Asia and presents the novel application of the SolVES (Social Values for Ecosystem Services) tool to an urban area. A public participatory GIS (PPGIS) survey was conducted to assess residents’ development preferences and perceived distribution of social values. The study revealed two groups of respondents, using cluster analysis, each with unique development preferences - a group favouring both green and grey developments and another favouring green development but strongly opposing grey development. The two groups differed statistically in their sociodemographic characteristics, and also how they mapped different social values. Our spatial analysis of their preferences towards future urban expansion in GKL highlighted locations where there is potential for land-use conflict. For example, the favour-balanced-development group tended to value built areas over green spaces. These findings support the need to consider residents’ preferences and socioecological traits through greater public engagement in urban landscape management.

Modelling public social values of flood-prone land use using the GIS application SolVES

Abstract Social values of land use are often excluded when undertaking integrated flood management as they are harder to quantify. To fill this research gap, a geographic information system application called Social Values for Ecosystem Services was used to assess, map and quantify the perceived social values of flood-prone land use in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia. This approach was based on a non-monetary value index (VI) calculated from responses to a quantitative social survey on the public's attitude and preference towards flood management across different land uses. The study outcome is the geospatial representation of flood-prone land use with their social values, which local communities perceive as crucial for flood management. The VI was influenced by elevation and slope, with lower elevations and flatter slopes associated with higher values. Farmland is highly favoured by the local community for flood management, whereas oil palm and rubber plantations are opposed. Tourism received the highest monetary allocations from survey respondents, with the popular firefly park consistently associated with the highest social values. This practical framework contributes to integrated flood management in facilitating decision-makers to evaluate land-use trade-offs by considering their social values when prioritising flood mitigation measures or investments.

Assessing grassland cultural ecosystem services supply and demand for promoting the sustainable realization of grassland cultural values

Grasslands deliver essential provisioning and regulatory ecosystem services, concomitantly with indispensable cultural services that merit profound consideration. However, grassland cultural ecosystem services (GCES) face a conspicuous knowledge lacuna due to the lack of a unified research framework and quantitative methodology. This study endeavors to fill this gap by quantifying the potential supply and actual demand of GCES, concurrently scrutinizing spatial congruencies and disparities between GCES supply and demand in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR), China. To achieve this, we integrated social survey data, Point of Interest (POI) data, social media data, the Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) model and GIS Getis-Ord Gi* statistical analysis. Our analysis unveiled grid-scale spatial patterns of GCES supply and demand, furnishing a nuanced high-low ranking of GCES. It transpired that scenic travel holds the highest potential supply of GCES with a high-value area proportion of 46.0 %, while grassland recuperation ranks the lowest. Notably, road accessibility emerged as the most crucial factor influencing GCES patterns. Furthermore, we observed a substantial misalignment in the GCES supply-demand relationship, with 65.99 % of IMAR experiencing excess supply compared to demand and only 20.66 % achieving equilibrium. At a 95 % significance level, hot spots (excess supply) and cold spots (excess demand) accounted for 26.03 % and 22 %, respectively. We propose targeted suggestions that regions with oversupply of GCES should channel efforts toward augmenting road accessibility, whereas regions grappling with excess demand should prioritize the judicious allocation of resources to avert surpassing the environmental carrying capacity. Our study furnished insights for decision-makers to formulate sustainable development plans pertaining to grassland culture.

Crowdsourcing social values data: Flickr and public participation GIS provide different perspectives of ecosystem services in a remote coastal region

Spatial planning and environmental management are expected to adopt participatory processes. However, the needed spatial data on social values of ecosystem services are limited, especially for marine spatial planning for large, remote coastal areas, and the collection of such information can be time and resource intensive. Crowdsourcing techniques are cost efficient sources of social values data, but must meet the information needs of planners and managers with sufficient confidence. We evaluated the reliability of crowdsourced social values data by assessing the agreement between geotagged photos posted to the social media platform Flickr and data from an online public participation GIS (PPGIS) survey conducted to support marine spatial planning in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.Flickr could not represent all of the social values mapped in the PPGIS dataset, was notably dominated by scenic values, and under-represented the importance of recreational fishing and Aboriginal cultural values. The Flickr dataset was more affected by accessibility from settlements and transportation infrastructure (roads, boat ramps) and more restricted spatially. Maximum entropy (maxent) distribution models developed to explore the socioecological drivers determining where social values occur also highlighted that Flickr and PPGIS samples provide different perspectives on social values, even after accounting for differences in sampling intensity. The Flickr dataset suggested that the social values occurred under narrower ranges of socioecological conditions, and the PPGIS dataset was more likely to find protected areas to be valued, likely because participants believe protected areas to support those social values, but may not themselves pursue them there.Flickr and PPGIS crowdsourced datasets provide different perspectives on the spatial distribution of social values for several reasons: They differ in their spatial and demographic biases, as well as their measurement of revealed vs. stated preferences. Flickr is most effective at representing social values that are easily photographed and interpretable in photos, and may not capture some information needs of managers. PPGIS is under greater investigator control but, because stated preferences can be disconnected from actual use of the sites mapped, may be best suited for assessing management preferences and social acceptability. With understanding of the nuances of these datasets, crowdsourced social values data can be applied most appropriately to support successful planning outcomes.

Assessing Social Values for Ecosystem Services in Rural Areas Based on the SolVES Model: A Case Study from Nanjing, China

Assessing social values attributed to ecosystem services based on the Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) model helps ecosystems to provide services sustainably, including land and forest products and non-material services. Currently, urbanization has accelerated the deterioration of rural environments, which affects the supply of social values for rural ecosystem services. How to scientifically assess the social values for ecosystem services in rural areas remains to be studied. In addition, there are significant differences in the perceptions of social value among stakeholder groups. Therefore, this study aims to provide a complete and systematic approach to identify the social value of complex and specific rural ecosystem services and to fill the gap in the research of perceived differences among stakeholder groups in rural areas. On the basis of building environmental raster datasets on a village scale, this research applies the SolVES model to evaluate social values in the Paifang rural community. Results show that aesthetic, health care, recreation, and biodiversity values are highly regarded in rural areas. The normalized difference vegetation index, the distance to rural settlements, the distance to tourist attractions, and the distance to agricultural production spaces can improve the evaluation accuracy, and the level of social values can be predicted by certain environmental variables. The spatial distribution of social values and the degree of attention paid to the biodiversity value, and the trade-off between the aesthetic and biodiversity value are the main perception differences between villagers and tourists. This research contributes to ecological construction and sustainable development in rural areas.

Evaluating the supply and demand of cultural ecosystem services in the Tibetan Plateau of China

ContextIn the Tibetan Plateau (TP), the supply of cultural ecosystem services (CESs) is unique, and the demand for CESs is gradually increasing with rapid urbanization. Evaluating the relationship between the supply and demand for CESs is critical for guiding regional sustainable development. However, due to the difficulty in obtaining empirical data in the high altitude and complex topography of the TP, relevant research is still lacking.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to develop an approach to address the difficulty of obtaining the empirical data on the TP and to evaluate the relationship between the supply and demand for CESs.MethodsTaking the Qinghaihu–Huangshui basin as an example, we combined the SolVES (Social Values for Ecosystem Services) model and social media big data to evaluate the supply and demand for CESs in the TP.ResultsOur results showed that the combined method can effectively evaluate the supply and demand for CESs in the basin, and can be used for other remote regions. The supply and demand for CESs in the basin exhibited obvious spatial mismatch. Among the two types of mismatch, in the areas of high supply and low demand of CESs, residents’ subjective well-being (SWB) were substantially lower. Being far away from central city was an important reason for the high supply and low demand of CESs.ConclusionsEstablishing and improving the transportation system connecting central cities with other counties is encouraged to utilize the rich cultural and tourism resources of the TP, as well as enhance the SWB and promote regional sustainable development.

Local perception of ecosystem services provided by symbolic wild cherry blossoms: toward community-based management of traditional forest landscapes in Japan

ABSTRACT Charismatic organisms are often used as symbols of nature-based community development. Understanding value perceptions of ecosystems services provided by symbolic species is important because such perceptions often influence land management and cultural associations between people and nature. Here, we aimed to characterize local perceptions of social values for ecosystem services of wild cherries in Sakuragawa city, Japan. The city has long been renowned for the beautiful traditional landscape of its flowering wild cherries and is involved in various conservation activities as a part of regional planning. We administered a questionnaire survey to three socio-cultural groups: local residents, tourists, and high school students; their responses were analyzed by using SolVES. Value perceptions of ecosystem services provided by wild cherries differed considerably among these groups. The residents and tourists ranked the value ‘aesthetic in spring’ as highest, whereas high school students ranked many values equally. In addition, most of the students confused wild cherry trees with the popular cultivar ‘Somei-yoshino’. The students’ more limited knowledge of wild cherries may have affected their value perceptions. Looking at the spatial distribution of perceived values, local residents and tourists highly valued the specific sites famous for their wild cherry scenery. In contrast, students did not value such sites and perceived more value in urbanized areas. Although symbolic species help to develop the perceived value of nature, filling a knowledge gap and sharing a variety of values within local communities is important for promoting community-based management of traditional forest landscapes characterized by wild cherries.

Social Value Assessment and Spatial Expression of National Park Ecosystems Based on Residents’ Perceptions

Social values of ecosystem services originate from human perceptions of ecosystem services and are defined as non-market values perceived by ecosystem stakeholders. Although it is widely recognized that the information of social value can provide assistance to stakeholders and decision makers in environmental management, this issue has received far less attention. This article uses the Public Participation Geographic Information System (PPGIS) method to analyze the assessment of social values of national park ecosystem services by residents with different environmental values and their relationship with surrounding natural resource conditions. According to the preference of the interviewed residents, it was found that the four most important types of social value are biodiversity value, aesthetic value, economic value, and recreation and wellness value. In terms of spatial distribution, the hot spots of social values show a pattern of “two cores and multiple centers”. The “two cores” are the Gutianshan National Nature Reserve and Qianjiangyuan National Forest Park, which are located at the north and south ends of the national park; the “multiple centers” include Kukeng, Xikeng, Xiachuan, Gaotiankeng villages in Changhong Township and Longkeng Village in the Hetian Township. By analyzing the relationship between the four social value types with higher preference and the resource environment (land use and elevation), the article found that social values are closely related to scenic spots, river water surface, reservoir water surface, forested land, tea plantations, and villages, and that they are mostly distributed in the range of 400 m to 600 m above sea level. The distribution of social values in the ecocentric subgroup is larger, covering almost the entire national park area. The transition of the value index is smoother, while the distribution of social values in the anthropocentric subgroup is relatively concentrated in one area.

Spatial social value distributions for multiple user groups in a coastal national park

Managing public lands to maximize societal benefits requires spatially explicit understanding of societal valuation, and public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) are increasingly used in coastal settings to accomplish this task. Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES), a PPGIS tool that systematizes the mapping and modeling of social values and cultural ecosystem services, is promising for use in coastal settings but has seen relatively limited applications relative to other PPGIS approaches; it has also, to our knowledge, not yet been applied in a barrier island setting. In this study, we surveyed two visitor groups and residents living near Cape Lookout National Seashore (North Carolina, USA) to understand their social values in the context of the park's management needs. We developed social-value models to evaluate differences between three user groups (fall visitors, summer visitors, and residents) and to evaluate how respondents' experiences, attitudes, and recreational activities influence the locations they value and their most strongly held value types, which included aesthetic, recreation, biodiversity, future, therapeutic, and historic values. We found that accessibility, user types and the seasonality of major recreational activities, and the linear configuration of the barrier island system at Cape Lookout are important influences on the social values held by visitors and residents. The modeling results provide information relevant to management at Cape Lookout and can inform the design of future PPGIS studies in coastal and marine settings.

Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES): Open-source spatial modeling of cultural services

Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) version 4.0 is a fully open-source, GIS-based tool designed to aid in the creation of quantitative, spatially explicit models of the nonmonetary values attributed to cultural ecosystem services, such as aesthetics and recreation, specifically to facilitate their incorporation into larger ecosystem service assessments. Newly redeveloped for QGIS, SolVES can be applied in a wide variety of biophysical and social contexts including mountain, forest, coastal, riparian, agricultural, and urban settings worldwide. Redeveloping SolVES for an open-source platform was intended to expand its user base by eliminating the cost of proprietary GIS software licenses and to remove the impact of proprietary software changes on SolVES development. Providing additional options would enable users to delineate relevant stakeholder groups to better assess how differing preferences impact the intensity and spatial distribution of perceived social values.

Understanding the process from perception to cultural ecosystem services assessment by comparing valuation methods

There is a close-knit link between people and cultural ecosystem services (CESs). Many methods have been verified as being able to value CESs. However, different methods have focused on specific aspects of CESs and have different highlights and challenges, which makes it difficult to select an appropriate method for specific research. To solve this problem, it is important to understand comprehensively and deeply the various CES valuation methods that exist. This study selects four representative methods, i.e., document analysis, social media photograph analysis, structured interviews and visitor-employed photography (VEP), and combines them with a participatory mapping method based on the Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) tool to compare their performance in assessing most facets of CESs. We find that the major differences among these four valuation methods are in the process from perception to CES assessment, and we list the advantages and limitations of each method for distinct aspects. Structured interviews are the most practical method because they can be applied to most situations, with few limitations and high accuracy and efficiency. Social media photograph analysis and VEP make a considerable difference in gaining perception for separate valuation purposes. The accuracy and efficiency of document analysis are low; thus, this method is better as a supplement than as an independent assessment.

Disparity in Perceptions of Social Values for Ecosystem Services of Urban Green Space: A Case Study in the East Lake Scenic Area, Wuhan.

Urban green space can bring various ecosystem benefits to diverse social groups. Among those ecosystem benefits, intangible social values are often neglected but highly relevant to human welfare. Existing research on the social values of urban green space often focusses on the perspective of urban inhabitants rather than tourists, even though tourists are also major beneficiaries. By combining different data sources into a comprehensive source about green-space social values, we investigated the disparity between inhabitants' and tourists' perceptions about space-associated social values, and further explored the underlying environmental conditions in the East Lake scenic area, Wuhan. For this, we collected 347 questionnaires through an on-site survey and 11,908 photos uploaded by 2165 social media users (Sina Blog), and we used SolVES (Social Value for Ecosystem Services) to uncover the spatial patterns of social values and the relationships between social value indicators and natural surroundings. Social-value hotspots occurred near water and trails. Perceptions differed, however, between inhabitants and tourists. Inhabitants perceived a larger scale of social values and could benefit more from recreation and economic values. Tourists, on the other hand, showed greater appreciation for aesthetic and cultural values. Environmental features were associated with social values to differing extent; distance to water and land use/cover exerted significantly influence. These findings should be taken into consideration to improve urban spatial planning and to optimize green infrastructures for human welfare.

Understanding the role of local knowledge in the spatial dynamics of social values expressed by stakeholders

Understanding the myriad reasons why people value protected areas provides insight on how to align the decisions made by public land management agencies with diverse stakeholder interests. This study drew on survey data collected within the context of Denali National Park and Preserve to better understand the spatial dynamics of social values reported by frontcountry and backcountry recreationists that held differing degrees of local knowledge. Using a Public Participation in Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) exercise and Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) mapping application, we observed differences in the point allocation and spatial distribution of social values associated with a protected area landscape. Wilderness, aesthetics and ecological integrity were the primary social values embodied by places within Denali. Backcountry recreationists engaged with a broader range of values and derived deeper benefits from recreation and therapeutic qualities of the landscape, whereas frontcountry recreationists expressed multiple, concentrated values for places in Denali that were accessible and symbolically important. We also observed that local knowledge provided a useful basis for better understanding social values, yet variation in knowledge was not spatially manifested. Our findings therefore advance the spatial prioritization of conservation initiatives that aim to represent and legitimize the voices of stakeholders in protected areas.

The Evolution Response of Ecosystem Cultural Services under Different Scenarios Based on System Dynamics

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are a significant part of the ecosystem and are considered to be a core component of human welfare and ecosystem protection. CES have been historically difficult to quantitatively evaluate because of their subjectivity and intangibility. Additionally, their evolution over time has rarely been explored. Here, we quantitatively evaluated various CES and generated corresponding value index (VI) maps. We then further explored the evolution of CES characteristics over space and time. We selected Xi’an as the study area and applied the Social Values of Ecosystem Services (SolVES) model to evaluate CES and generate three specific VI maps. A system dynamics model based on socioeconomic and survey data of CES for each administrative division was established. Finally, we simulated four developmental scenarios in order to predict potential developmental changes of CES in 2030 under these different scenarios. This study provides a method for evaluating CES and explores the application of system dynamics to different fields. Additionally, our findings may provide guidance for the formulation of regional policies and support missions to improve civilizations within ecological systems, coordinate future economic growth with ecosystem services, and achieve sustainable development.

A Place-Based Approach to Agricultural Nonmaterial Intangible Cultural Ecosystem Service Values

Though agricultural landscape biodiversity and ecosystem service (ES) conservation is crucial to sustainability, agricultural land is often underrepresented in ES studies, while cultural ES associated with agricultural land is often limited to aesthetic and tourism recreation value only. This study mapped 7 nonmaterial-intangible cultural ES (NICE) valuations of 34 rural farmers in western Taiwan using the Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) methodology, to show the effect of farming practices on NICE valuations. However, rather than a direct causal relationship between the environmental characteristics that underpin ES, and respondents’ ES valuations, we found that environmental data is not explanatory enough for causality within a socio-ecological production landscape where one type of land cover type (a micro mosaic of agricultural land cover) predominates. To compensate, we used a place-based approach with Google Maps data to create context-specific data to inform our assessment of NICE valuations. Based on 338 mapped points of 7 NICE valuations distributed among 6 areas within the landscape, we compared 2 groups of farmers and found that farmers’ valuations about their landscape were better understood when accounting for both the landscape’s cultural places and environmental characteristics, rather than environmental characteristics alone. Further, farmers’ experience and knowledge influenced their NICE valuations such that farm areas were found to be sources of multiple NICE benefits demonstrating that farming practices may influence ES valuation in general.

Mapping Perceived Social Values to Support a Respondent-Defined Restoration Economy: Case Study in Southeastern Arizona, USA

Investment in conservation and ecological restoration depends on various socioeconomic factors and the social license for these activities. Our study demonstrates a method for targeting management of ecosystem services based on social values, identified by respondents through a collection of social survey data. We applied the Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) geographic information systems (GIS)-based tool in the Sonoita Creek watershed, Arizona, to map social values across the watershed. The survey focused on how respondents engage with the landscape, including through their ranking of 12 social values (eg, recreational, economic, or aesthetic value) and their placement of points on a map to identify their associations with the landscape. Additional information was elicited regarding how respondents engaged with water and various land uses, as well as their familiarity with restoration terminology. Results show how respondents perceive benefits from the natural environment. Specifically, maps of social values on the landscape show high social value along streamlines. Life-sustaining services, biological diversity, and aesthetics were the respondents’ highest rated social values. Land surrounding National Forest and private lands had lower values than conservation-based and state-owned areas, which we associate with landscape features. Results can inform watershed management by allowing managers to consider social values when prioritizing restoration or conservation investments.

Integrating preferences and social values for ecosystem services in local ecological management: A framework applied in Xiaojiang Basin Yunnan province, China

Previous works have made great progress in mapping and assessing ecosystem services (ES) that are directed toward exploring various aspects of ecological changes and economic values. These preferences, however, may neglect the important role of people who are the direct beneficiaries in this ecosystem. Therefore, including these stakeholders in ES assessment identifies their relations and perceptions between ecosystem services and society. In order to quantify and map these relations and perceptions, we designed and implemented an analytical framework based on the Public Participatory Geographic Information System (PPGIS) method to explore local stakeholders’ (Farmers, Government managers/Experts, and Company employees) similarities and differences in recognition of preferences and social values for ecosystem services in a typical Karst basin. Our results showed that remarkable differences appeared in preferences for ES across three groups. Farmers gave more preferences to provisioning services, Government managers/Experts to regulating and cultural services, and Company employees’ preferences were individualized. The spatial distributions and relations of social values for ES also showed great differentials. Provisioning services were always related to specific natural conditions, regulating services to forests, and cultural services to specific locations around tourism localities, forest, and wetland parks. The three stakeholder groups perceived more synergies than tradeoffs between the different ecosystem services. Landscape beauty was the most influential service in Farmers’ and Company employees’ perceptions, while Local climate change regulation was the most influential service in those of Government managers/Experts. The local stakeholders’ surveys can improve the enthusiasm of the local people to participate in environmental management and provide more socio-ecological information to help the managers alleviate the conflicts among different stakeholders.

Assessing and mapping recreationists’ perceived social values for ecosystem services in the Qinling Mountains, China

Mountain ecosystems tend to have less human intervention and more abundant biodiversity and ecosystem services (ESs). With the development of urbanization, mountain ecotourism has become an important site of leisure for human beings. Understanding how recreationists perceive biodiversity and ESs is important for effective mountain ecotourism planning and eco-environment management. However, there are some difficulties in obtaining human perception data in larger mountain areas. This study collected social value data perceived by recreationists in Taibai Mountain National Forest Park (TMNFP) using questionnaires. On the basis of data of TMNFP and the Social Values for ESs model (SolVES), we evaluated the social values of the Qinling Mountains, where TMNFP is located. This assessment is expressed in terms of a value index (VI) and shows the relationship between the VI and environmental variables in a quantitative and spatially explicit manner. The results showed that the maximum VI (max-VI) of each social value of the Qinling Mountains was high, and the social values were mainly concentrated in areas with high altitude. At the same time, we used forest parks and nature reserves to verify the VIs of aesthetic, recreation and biodiversity. The results showed that the high aggregation degree of sample points was not conducive to value transfer. This study validates the extrapolation method (value transfer) can obtain the social value of large-scale area. These outcomes can help managers and planners to identify specific areas that need improvement.

Comparing the social values of ecosystem services in US and Australian marine protected areas

Spatially explicit models for conservation planning often rely on environmental and economic indicators to prioritize management decisions. Consideration of social values in relation to landscape metrics is less common, especially across different biophysical contexts. In this paper, we compare social values mapped by outdoor recreationists who visited Santa Cruz Island within Channel Islands National Park, USA, and Hinchinbrook Island National Park, Australia using a Social Values for Ecosystem Services mapping tool that interfaced with Maximum Entropy modeling. Specifically, we determine the relative importance of 12 social values and evaluate how the relationship between three highly rated social values (Aesthetic, Biological Diversity, and Recreation) and four biophysical metrics (distance to the coast, distance to management infrastructure, slope, and elevation) differed between two marine protected areas. Our results provide insight into the spatial dynamics of social-ecological data to identify high and low priority locations in protected areas as well as enable resource management agencies to make more informed decisions about how best to engage with stakeholders. This research also supports public involvement in policy-making about land and seascapes in the USA and Australia.