‘This funny place’: Uncovering the ambiguity of saltmarshes using a multimodal approach

Abstract

Saltmarshes are increasingly recognised for the range of benefits they offer, including coastal protection, flood regulation and carbon sequestration. However, much less is known about how people perceive these environments and their importance for non‐material aspects of human well‐being. As climate change and sea‐level rise render these environments increasingly vulnerable, there is a need to better understand how saltmarshes are valued. This is because these values influence—and are influenced by—the ways in which people interact with places and therefore gain well‐being benefits from them. These values also shape management decisions, which in turn affect the well‐being of people and environment. To address this need, we use a multimodal qualitative approach (mobile interviews, photo elicitations, mapping and word association) to explore the values held in connection to saltmarshes at two Welsh case study sites: the Taf Estuary in Carmarthenshire and the Mawddach Estuary in Gwynedd. We find that saltmarshes are ambiguous places, not having one obvious meaning, and being open to more than one interpretation. They are both known and unknown; valued and (literally) overlooked. We suggest that this ambiguousness is related to both the physical characteristics of saltmarshes, which change and shift on short and long time‐scales, as well as to the ways in which people (can) relate with them. We discuss how ambiguity renders saltmarshes as places of exclusive, privileged human–nature relationships, and reflect on the implications of our findings for human well‐being and the management of threatened environments. We also consider how multimodal, in‐depth and place‐based methods such as ours provide ways in which to explore the more intangible and changeable values associated with particular habitats. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Coastal residents' affective engagement with the natural and constructed environment

“…the ‘type of place’ remained the same; Table 1, S3). This mirrors findings from recent studies that ambiguous habitats such as saltmarshes can be undervalued or overlooked for their physical characteristics, but are instead (or also) valued for the way that people interact and relate with them (Thomas et al., 2022). It was also found that past ‘inappropriate’ changes to estuarine environments were perceived to have affected respondents' interactions with the environment that were integral to their wellbeing (Roberts et al., 2021).…”

“…To understand the deterioration of the person–place relationship and to predict the potential impact of further landscape changes, regardless of the physical severity of these changes, it is imperative to query the deeper meanings associated with interactions with a site, for example the motivation to visit it, and whether proposed landscape changes inhibit the capability of people to undertake their activities (Devine‐Wright, 2011; Riechers et al., 2020; Thomas et al., 2022). In the case of the coastal walk in our study, this refers to the ability (or lack of ability) of a place to provide personal fulfilment through solitude; or in the case of enjoying interactions with saltmarshes, the capability of individuals to undertake their chosen activities (Thomas et al., 2022). Our approach to the analysis of place change facilitates the necessary redevelopment of the landscape while contributing to the long‐term sustainability of the local community.…”

“…To understand the deterioration of the person-place relationship and to predict the potential impact of further landscape changes, regardless of the physical severity of these changes, it is imperative to query the deeper meanings associated with interactions with a site, for example the motivation to visit it, and whether proposed landscape changes inhibit the capability of people to undertake their activities (Devine-Wright, 2011; Riechers et al, 2020;Thomas et al, 2022).…”

“…In the case of the coastal walk in our study, this refers to the ability (or lack of ability) of a place to provide personal fulfilment through solitude; or in the case of enjoying interactions with saltmarshes, the capability of individuals to undertake their chosen activities (Thomas et al, 2022). Our approach to the analysis of place change facilitates the necessary redevelopment of the landscape while contributing to the long-term sustainability of the local community.…”

Place‐making in waterscapes: Wetlands as palimpsest spaces of recreation

“…We must therefore be considerate toward all forms of ludic play and expression on wetlands, and acknowledge the ways in which differential value systems are shared and communicated. This research connects with other international scholarly work on wetland management which emphasises the importance of collaborating in a sympathetic way with other wetland users, even if their viewpoints appear subversive or discomforting (Bataille et al, 2021; Thomas et al, 2022). The research has uncovered a multiplicity of viewpoints and experiences in these wetland spaces, yet they share commonality as all know what it feels to stand, to breathe, to relax, to move around these immersive ecosystems.…”