Recent work on Ecosystem Services (ES) has focused on ecological and economic values, leaving a gap regarding analyses of multiple socio-cultural values. The ES literature has been criticized for adopting a homogenous approach to communities and failing to consider social diversity and power structures influencing access to benefits and participation in the management of ES. Additionally, environmental justice (EJ) frameworks have rarely been applied to ES discourse. This research inquires the extent to which EJ and ES approaches can complement one another by exploring dimensions of EJ associated with ES, i.e. distribution of socio-cultural values as costs, benefits and risks of ES; recognition of multiple values associated with ES; and governance procedures which through which decisions are made about ES. Using a case study of a national park in Italy, which includes two cities within its bounds (Circeo [CNP]) and applying a mixed-methods approach composed of literature review, qualitative interviews, focus groups and semi-structured questionnaires, I map, evaluate and compare socio-cultural values of different groups of stakeholders to identify potential conflicts and injustices related to the management of the park, as well as the inclusion/exclusion of stakeholders in decision-making processes. The aim is to assess the extent to which different stakeholders¿ socio-cultural values are reflected in the management of the park and therefore reflect on potential drivers of this, including conflicts among agricultural, hydrogeological and tourism resources and tension between local and national governance frameworks. In doing so, this research contributes to current debates on integrated ES valuation in the dialogue between actors and participation (or exclusion) in decision-making processes.
Recent contributions in Ecosystem Services (ES) research have stressed the need to advance our understanding of the social values of ES (Rodriguez JJ, et al., 2006) and the need for more participatory approaches, in cooperation with natural and social scientists (Menzel and Teng, 2009). This research wants to increase the understanding of the socio-cultural values of ES by empirically demonstrating that different stakeholders hold different values toward ES, and these values are tied to stakeholders¿ perception of environmental justice/injustice and conflicts. The research wants to show in which way the socio-cultural values of different stakeholders influence or not the practice of ES decision making. In doing so, the research contributes to current debates on integrated ES valuation in the dialogue between actors and participation (or exclusion) in decision-making processes. Socio-cultural valuation might be an important tool in visualizing value trade-offs when linked to stakeholder analysis and thus, help to foster dialogue different stakeholder groups (Iniesta-Arandia et al., 2014). Furthermore, augmenting ES research with environmental justice approaches (exploring perceptions of the distribution of costs and benefits, decision making procedures, and recognition of different values and identities) can more effectively capture important responses to ecosystem governance. The environmental justice research can reveal local perceptions and social feedbacks critical to ecosystem service trade-offs and highlight pathways to reconcile them through satisfying stakeholders¿ diverse, dynamic objectives (Dawson et al., 2017).