Not just a tree: Recognizing, understanding and assessing intangible cultural values of nature

Background/Question/Methods

Most people have little trouble understanding and accommodating the notion that there is more to a human being than our bones, blood, flesh and hair; human life is valued far beyond the direct worth of our bodies. Yet, many have difficulty recognizing this type of value of other species, and nature in general: a deeply engrained value beyond their basic economic potential. The concept of “kincentric ecology,” embraced within many Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge systems, provides a multitude of examples of the spiritual and emotional benefits of Nature in the human consciousness. With “kincentricity,” other lifeforms are considered our relatives or kin, having the same capacity for thought, feeling, generosity, and gratitude, as reflected in stories, ceremonies and deeply held cultural traditions of many Indigenous Peoples. The inextricable relationships between humans and nature are embraced in peoples’ daily lives, and nature takes on all the attributes and value of our human family members. Under this worldview, nature also requires from humans the same caretaking responsibilities that we assume for our kin. Such concepts of reciprocity and mutual support are embedded in peoples’ land and resource management practices. This approach has much to offer in our struggles to sustain the life on our planet. 

Results/Conclusions

If we consider the valuing of other species and their habitats in the same way we value our relatives and our homes, we begin to see an entire suite of values that – while difficult to attach a dollar figure to – are as important to the quality of many people’s lives as any monetary values they might extract from nature. Recognizing that these values and emotional attachments that the natural world imparts to many of us is a critically important yet widely under recognized aspect of our efforts to evaluate ecosystem services broadly and completely. Often the very people who hold and value these “kin” relationships are not consulted when planning, decision-making and policy formulation around use of nature are undertaken. Therefore, a key initiative in ecosystem-services research efforts should be to find fair and equitable processes and approaches for taking such perspectives into account.