Premium
Measuring what matters in the Great Barrier Reef
Author(s) -
Marshall Nadine,
Barnes Michele L,
Birtles Alistair,
Brown Katrina,
Cinner Joshua,
Curnock Matt,
Eakin Hallie,
Goldberg Jeremy,
Gooch Margaret,
Kittinger Jack,
Marshall Paul,
ManuelNavarrete David,
Pelling Mark,
Pert Petina L,
Smit Barry,
Tobin Renae
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1002/fee.1808
Subject(s) - pride , indigenous , tourism , great barrier reef , stakeholder , cultural values , geography , cultural identity , population , biodiversity , value (mathematics) , ecosystem services , sociology , environmental resource management , socioeconomics , ecology , ecosystem , reef , political science , public relations , social science , biology , negotiation , demography , environmental science , archaeology , machine learning , computer science , law
The natural environment plays an integral role in the culture of all people. Although the cultural services provided by ecosystems are often acknowledged, these abstract qualities are difficult to capture and are rarely incorporated into environmental strategic planning. We propose an approach for decision makers to weigh different cultural values across a range of stakeholder groups. We assessed the importance of the Great Barrier Reef ( GBR ) to the lifestyle, sense of place, pride, identity, and well‐being of 8300 people across multiple cultural groups, as well as each of these groups’ belief in the aesthetic, scientific, and biodiversity‐based value of the GBR . The surveyed population included indigenous and non‐indigenous local residents, Australians (non‐local), international and domestic tourists, tourism operators, and commercial fishers. We discuss how some groups grant similar levels of importance to some values and how other groups differ in their attachment to certain values. All of the groups possessed the selected cultural values to some extent, suggesting that these values matter, and could be leveraged to secure the future of iconic ecosystems such as the GBR .