7 8While many studies have employed stated preferences methods to estimate the value of 9 non-market ecosystem goods and services contingent valuation (CV) still generates a 10 significant amount of criticism. Besides ethical concerns, two of the key criticisms relate to 11 insensitivity to scope and order effects. We examine the expectation that the presence of 12 order effects in stepwise disclosure procedures affects the degree of scope sensitivity. We 13 use data from a CV exercise asking farmers in Southern Spain to value two different levels 14 of guarantee of water supply for irrigation in a context of water scarcity. We find that 15 despite order effects being present, they do not affect the existence or the degree of 16 sensitivity to scope. We conclude that, in the light of the mixed evidence found in the 17 literature and the results of our study, it does not seem justified to ascribe order effects and 18 their connection with sensitivity to scope to study design alone (e.g. step-wise versus 19 advanced disclosure, top-down versus bottom-up). The nature of the environmental good 20 under valuation also matters. Our study of irrigation water as a common-pool resource 21suggests that, when clear private benefits also exist, these appear to override any 'good 22 cause dumping effect' that might arise from the public good component. 23 24
Nature degradation, poverty and social discrimination are some of the consequences of unfair decision‐making over environmental resources within rural communities in the Global South. Barriers to achieving fair environmental decisions are entrenched power differences and the lack of representation of the diversity of local values in environmental decision‐making. Using intersectionality and value pluralism as a conceptual base, this is the first paper to examine the potential of Forum Theatre, a performance arts‐based method, to discuss ‘solutions’ regarding power differences and values towards nature in environmental decision‐making. We implemented Forum Theatre in two rural villages in Chiapas, Mexico, framed around conflicts and power differences in eco‐tourism development. Participants felt empathy with the Forum Theatre characters and dissatisfaction over the conflicts, and this motivated them to engage and participate in collective reflections on their own personal experiences with power differences in environmental decision‐making. From these reflections, participants performed diverse ‘solutions’ to the conflicts, bringing to the fore plural interconnected and dynamic values towards nature in these narratives. Despite this, Forum Theatre does not look to ‘solve’ conflicts; it is a safe space to explore how power differences and values towards nature play out in environmental decision‐making. Results offer a promising picture of the potential of Forum Theatre as an opening where participants could discuss power differences and values towards nature. However, establishing its potential as a tool in environmental decision‐making would require engaging those involved in implementing environmental decisions that affect the communities but who operate from other levels of the governance structure, such as policy‐makers and large NGOs. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
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