Perceived fairness of conservation decision-making more strongly influenced by absence than presence of procedural equity criteria

People’s perceptions about how fair conservation decision-making is can play a critical role in whether they support and comply with conservation efforts. Termed procedural equity, fair decision-making is emphasized in policy and practice due to its ethical and instrumental importance. However, limited understanding of what contributes to perceptions of fair decision-making may hamper efforts to foster procedural equity. We analyze quantitative survey data to examine how six criteria of procedural equity (accountability, correctability, voice, decision control, transparency, and trust) are related to perceptions of fairness in decision-making for 1799 residents of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. We find that: 1) five out of six procedural equity criteria are related to perceived fairness of decision-making; and 2) the absence of procedural equity criteria has a generally stronger relationship to perceived (un)fairness in decision-making than the presence of procedural equity criteria. Rather than making assumptions about what constitutes fairness, we empirically demonstrate the relative importance of each criterion in promoting perceptions of fairness in conservation decision-making. Comparing the uneven relationship between absent and present criteria to perceived decision-making fairness highlights the strong negative impacts that ignoring procedural equity concerns can have for conservation projects.