Who You Are Shapes What You Value: Perspectives on Nature’s Contributions in Mexican Coastal Lagoon Systems

Coastal lagoons are critical socio-ecological systems that face increasing anthropogenic pressures, threatening their sustainability. Understanding how different social actors value Nature’s Contributions to People (NCPs) is essential for developing effective and legitimate governance approaches. This study examines how sociodemographic characteristics and social roles influence plural valuations of NCPs in the Tres Palos lagoon, Mexico. We collected data from different social actor types across three coastal communities, assessing perception values, orientation values, and change projections for eight NCPs, with a focus on pattern identification and hypothesis generation rather than causal inference. Multiple Correspondence Analysis revealed that social actor type (decision-makers and residents) emerged as the primary factor differentiating NCP valuations. Decision-makers consistently rated regulating contributions (habitat creation, climate regulation, and soil formation) as highly important and projected future declines attributed to external pressures. In contrast, residents assigned lower importance to these contributions and anticipated stability through community restoration efforts. Sex also influenced value orientations, with women displaying more egoistic (self-interest) orientations toward habitat creation and the regulation of freshwater and coastal water quality, while men expressed altruistic (interest in others) orientations toward physical and psychological experiences, as well as habitat creation. These valuation mismatches reflect fundamentally different relationships with lagoon ecosystems: institutional regulatory perspectives versus experiential subsistence viewpoints. The divergent responsibility attributions and future projections create governance challenges that traditional top-down approaches cannot adequately address. Our findings underscore the need for reflexive governance frameworks that recognize value pluralism and foster inclusive spaces for dialogue among diverse knowledge systems. This research contributes to the growing literature on plural valuation while providing practical insights for coastal ecosystem management in the context of the Global South.