The Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is subspecies of tiger (Pathera tigris) native to Russia. It is regarded as endangered according to the Red Book of Russia and the IUCN Red List. References to endangered species and their habitats was one manifestation of intrinsic value in the NBSAPs. Federal State Budgetary Institution, “State Reserve Bastak”, CC BY-SA 4.0.

By Ranjini Murali, Bosco Lliso, Lelani M. Mannetti, Anna Filyushkina, Sacha Amaruzaman, Ariane M. Amin, Håkon da Silva Hyldmo, Ann-Kathrin Koessler, Dominic Lenzi, Natalia Lutti, and Evonne Yiu.

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“Values of nature” refers to the different ways in which nature matters to people. Values of nature form the basis of designing environmental policies, and policies that reflect the diversity of values of nature that people hold are likely to be more inclusive and just. These values can be broadly categorized as instrumental, intrinsic, and relational. Instrumental value is the value of nature as a means to a human end. Intrinsic value is the value of nature without references to people. Relational value is the value of nature that people hold based on their relationship with nature. People hold a diversity of values of nature, but this diversity is not always captured in policy documents. To which values of nature, then, do national policy documents refer?

In this paper, we tried to understand which values national environmental policy documents reference. We used the National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plans (NBSAPs) – the key national policy framework for biodiversity conservation – from 11 countries across the world. We used qualitative content analysis to analyze the text. While statements that did not have a specified value orientation were the most common (40%), within the value-oriented statements, we found that instrumental value-orientation statements were the most prevalent (38%). The main manifestations of instrumental value were through references to sustainability, natural resources, and ecosystem services. This was followed by intrinsic value-orientation statements (14%), where manifestations related to recognizing intrinsic value, endangered species and habitats, conservation programmes, and threats to nature. Relational value orientation statements were the least represented (9%), and manifested as duty and responsibility to protect nature, other values expressed for nature, national pride and heritage, indigenous people’s and local community’s relationships with nature, protecting nature for future generations and equity in the use and access of nature.

We call on environmental policies to incorporate multiple values, as rarely considering the other ways in which nature maters to people, can reinforce unjust outcomes for both biodiversity and human well-being.