Preferences for fair decision-making principles in marine conservation

Hampton-Smith, M. and Gurney, G.G. and Ruano-Chamorro, C. and Lau, J. and Cinner, J.E. (2026) Preferences for fair decision-making principles in marine conservation. Biological Conservation, 319: 111869. ISSN 0006-3207

Abstract

The global expansion of area-based conservation has heightened the urgency of attention to equity in environmental governance. Procedural equity—fair decision-making—is central to achieving just and effective conservation outcomes yet remains underexplored in empirical research. This study addresses a critical gap by examining stakeholder and rightsholder (hereafter local actor) preferences for eight procedural equity principles within the context of Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Using factorial survey experiments and 1739 vignette ratings from 435 coastal residents we find that local actors favour a holistic approach to procedural equity, with particular emphasis on trustworthiness, transparency, interpersonal treatment, and voice. While participation has long dominated the discourse on equitable conservation decision-making, our results reveal that alone it does not satisfy local actors' fairness preferences. Instead, we suggest a shift towards more relational approaches that focus on the quality of the relationship between decision-makers and local actors. This study provides practical recommendations for environmental governance and underscores the need to center local actor-defined fairness to achieve socially just and ecologically sound conservation outcomes.