Investigating values of forests in Australia through the Nature Futures Framework

Abstract Incorporating diverse values of nature into decision-making is essential for achieving sustainability, particularly in contested policy arenas. Decision-making about forests is highly contested in Australia due to historical legacies, ongoing discourses and emerging challenges. We investigate values that participants from diverse stakeholder groups nationally have of forests in Australia through semi-structured interviews, guided by the Nature Futures Framework (NFF). Results reveal a plurality of values for forests in Australia—the three values most commonly identified were biodiversity and wildlife habitat, cultural and spiritual connections, and wood production, representing one of each of the three NFF value perspectives—respectively, Forests for Nature (FN), Forests as Culture (FC), and Forests for Society (FS). Overlapping values, embodying more than one value perspective, were also evident. First Nations Australians participants expressed predominantly the relational FC value perspective, while others expressed primarily the instrumental FS and intrinsic FN value perspectives. Contestations about the value of wood production remain apparent, but our results challenge the binary narratives that are commonly used to characterise ‘forestry’ and ‘conservation’ interests. Our study demonstrates the potential of using the NFF to guide the exploration of values held by individuals of forests and advances the use of the NFF to facilitate decision-making about forest policy and management. The insights from this paper enhance understanding of the values of forests in Australia and reveal commonalities and differences that can inform more inclusive decision processes about Australian forests. Our results suggest that it is important that these processes incorporate diverse stakeholder voices and embrace a multiplicity of values, including recognising non-Western ways of valuing nature, to facilitate transformative change for sustainability.