Aligning Indigenous values and cultural ecosystem services for ecosystem accounting: A review

Abstract

Indigenous people have important relationships with the environment that must be recognised in environmental management frameworks if these frameworks are to be accepted and used by Indigenous people. Cultural ecosystem services (CES) have the potential to reflect Indigenous values in landscapes, yet to date, the majority of CES assessments have been conducted in non-Indigenous contexts and no studies using the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) have considered Indigenous CES values. To assess the key challenges and opportunities for CES approaches to better recognise Indigenous people's values and perspectives on landscapes, we reviewed 48 publications that define and measure CES from the perspective of Indigenous people. We find that these assessments tend to: (1) require a continuous rather than discrete conceptualisation of ecosystem assets; (2) emphasise an interconnected and reciprocal relationship between people and the landscape; (3) record ‘benefit’ from a collective rather than an individual perspective; and (4) apply qualitative research methods with small sample sizes. We identify challenges for aligning these values with the SEEA EA and highlight areas where further work is needed to broaden the relevance of CES assessment. As recognition of the importance of Indigenous land tenure and management for environmental conservation and sustainable development expands globally, reconciling perspectives across management approaches such as ecosystem accounting is important for ensuring that Indigenous people's perspectives are included within the environmental and economic planning used in government.