Are Stakeholders Aware of the Contributions of Ecosystem Services for Their Well-Being? A Case Study of a UNESCO Geopark Project in Brazil

Policy makers, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and practitioners are increasingly acknowledging the relevance of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES) for achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This is however influenced by the personal awareness and interests of stakeholders, which can lead to conflicts about ecosystem management and conservation priorities. In the Global South, where poverty and power asymmetries are more pronounced, inclusive approaches to decision making are crucial to achieve sustainable development “leaving no one behind.” We assessed awareness of different stakeholder groups in the Corumbataí watershed, a UNESCO Geoparks project, about the relevance of ES for their well-being (WB) to determine if the perceptions about their relevance differ among them. We found that stakeholders selected regulating and cultural services as the most relevant ES, while security and health emerged as the most relevant categories of WB. Meanwhile, we found lack of awareness about the relevance of some ES underpinning WB categories they highly valued, e.g., groundwater recharge or rain regulation and its relevance for potable water availability. Gender, education, and age had a significant effect on the valuation of ES and WB categories, with women linking provisioning ES to both security and basic material WB and men connecting provisioning services more often to security. Assessing stakeholders’ perceptions about the relevance of ES for their WB can shed light on personal socio-ecological relations. Tailored education programs could support sustainable development programs.