An environmental justice approach to socio-cultural values of ecosystem services: the case study of Circeo National Park, Italy

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 (interactional justice) and participation (or exclusion) in decision-making processes (procedural justice).