News and Opinion

An immersive approach to researching offshore cultural ecosystem services

Marine areas, unlike coastal or inland locations, are often seen as uninhabited resource sites and rarely looked at as spaces of lived experience or cultural meaning, write Dr Ashley Cahillane, Professor Johanna Forster, Dr Dorota Kolbuk and Professor John Brannigan. However, effective marine governance means understanding the full array of ecosystem benefits – including cultural ecosystem services (CES) such as a sense of place, belonging, identity and care. The CES of offshore environments are also important for considering various policy contexts including marine spatial planning, marine protected areas and marine cultural heritage.