DOI: 10.5061/dryad.ksn02v77s
title: Survey results for: Public perceptions of cultural ecosystem services provided by beach nourishment and eelgrass restoration in southern Sweden

description: Ecosystem-based protection is becoming a viable adaptation option to
 conventional engineered solutions to rising sea levels and coastal
 erosion. While the environmental and biological ecosystem services
 provided by ecosystem-based adaptation measures such as beach nourishment
 and/or seagrass plantations are being acknowledged and analysed, less
 attention has been paid to the social or cultural dimensions of these
 services. This paper builds upon the emerging body of research that
 explores cultural ecosystem services in coastal areas and how they are
 perceived by the people who live, work and recreate in these areas. The
 aim of the paper is to take stock of and understand public and stakeholder
 perceptions of the cultural ecosystem services that may accrue through
 eelgrass (Zostera marina) restoration in tandem with beach nourishment in
 Southern Sweden. The empirical research is based on an online open-ended
 questionnaire in the coastal municipalities of Båstad, Trelleborg, Ystad
 and Kristianstad. The results demonstrate that virtually all respondents
 had noticed a change in the coastline in recent years, mainly that the
 coastline had retreated. While beach nourishment measures were recognized
 among respondents to counter the shoreline erosion, there was very little
 understanding of the role that eelgrass plantations can play in creating
 biodiversity and benefits for society. Still, most acknowledged the
 importance of making room for water and biodiversity at the coast, stating
 how the coastline was valued for primarily health and spiritual reasons.
 This knowledge will help local, regional, and national decision-makers and
 regulatory authorities to make evidence-based choices for coastal
 protection, by complementing the analysis of environmental and physical
 ecosystem-services with cultural and socio-economic considerations.
 Nature-based solutions such as eelgrass reintroduction or beach
 nourishment should be tailored to the values, perspectives, and
 perceptions of the local communities to help ensure their continued
 contribution to biodiversity.
description: Data was collected via a qualitative
 semi-structured, partly open survey to the residents and beachgoers in
 Båstad, Ystad, Trelleborg and Kristianstad from September to November
 2019. We used an online survey method for data collection to understand
 stakeholder perceptions of the cultural ecosystem services that NbS such
 as eelgrass restoration and beach nourishment might provide. The survey
 targeted with residents from the four municipalities and a total of 99
 responses were collected. The online questionnaire survey was published in
 several Facebook groups from these municipalities. All surveys were
 completely anonymous and were performed at the survey portal
 sogosurvey.com. Questions were developed to acquire information on the
 behaviour, knowledge, values, perceptions and feelings of people living,
 working and enjoying the case study coastal areas.
 We used discourse analysis to categorize
 responses from citizens for the first three dimensions as social functions
 (social activities and recreation), buildings and infrastructure
 (properties) and valued sites. As the number of responses in this survey
 was not overwhelming, all results were coded according to framework and
 analyzed ’by hand’ and figures made in Excell.
description: All qualitative data files are provided in PDF and provided in
 both the original Swedish and translation to English.