Cultural Ecosystem Services

Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) reflect the ways estuaries shape who we are and how we live.

Across the Reserve System, people are recognizing how these cultural connections to the natural world support identity, tradition, well-being, and ultimately, community resilience. This page is a hub of lessons, resources, and stories to help you bring CES into your work—whether you’re just learning about them or are ready to apply them in programs, research, and planning. It is based on the project Cultural Ecosystem Services in Estuary Stewardship and Management, which was funded by the NERRS Science Collaborative
ResourcesFind publications, documents, contact information, and other useful tools.
Why CES Matter
Working with CES
Stories from Reserves

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are the intangible benefits that arise from our relationships with estuaries—those feelings of identity, belonging, inspiration, cultural continuity, and well-being that come from connecting with the lands and waters. 

Because these relationships are reciprocal, the benefits people receive from estuaries is expressed through cultural traditions and the ways we care for these places. While you will not often find CES in economic or ecological reports, they matter just as much as concrete benefits when the goal is the sustainable management of estuaries and their habitats.

By working with CES, Reserves can make education more relevant and place-based; recognize how stewardship supports cultural heritage; understand how volunteering fosters health and purpose; and build planning processes that reflect what people care about most.

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Estuaries provide important recreational opportunities, including fishing to individuals and communities.

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Reserves provide opportunities for place-based, experiential learning for people of all ages.

Group of people outside in winter

Social connections are fostered through gathering in important places, including the Reserves. The experiences that people have in the Reserves may also include intergenerational sharing of knowledge.

    When we listen to what people value, we can make better choices about how to care for our lands and waters. By integrating CES in your work, you can design programs, research, and planning processes that reflect community values and strengthen reciprocal relationships between people and their estuary. Developed based on Reserve staff experiences, these resources offer practical guidance for recognizing, applying, and assessing CES. Each one comes from work across the Reserves.

    Click on the panels below to read what Reserves are learning about integrating CES in their work.

    Learning about CES
    Identifying CES at your Reserve
    Using place-based practices
    Applying CES in research
    CES approaches for program evaluation

    Learning about CES

    If you’re new to CES, these tools will help you understand what they are, explore common categories of CES, and read examples of how people experience them in a Reserve setting.

    • Preamble: guide to engaging with CES and understanding where they show up in Reserve work.
    • Introduction to CES: provides an overview of what CES are and why they matter.
    • Common CES Categories: a quick reference for describing and talking about CES.

    Identifying CES at your Reserve

    It’s likely you’re already engaging with cultural ecosystem services (CES) without calling them that. Fishing with family, gathering for ceremonies, celebrating seasonal events, or simply enjoying time with friends outdoors—we connect with our estuaries in many ways.

    Using place-based practices

    Reserves are linking CES to real-world programs like stewardship and education. Purposeful activities in natural settings foster a deepened sense of place, social connections, cultural continuity, and inspiration.

    • Laulima Workdays: Case study of weekly restoration days at Heʻeia that build sense of place, community, and cultural continuity.
    • Place-Based, Engaged Education: Case study of university classes that center place-based research and cultivating relationships with people and place.

    Applying CES in research

    Research does more than generate data, it can also shape relationships between people and place in positive and negative ways. To address that, Reserves like Heʻeia and Kachemak Bay are creating research protocols that ask scientists to consider their own connections to the site, how their projects support cultural values, and how they will give back to the community. By centering reciprocity and co-production of knowledge, these protocols help ensure that research not only benefits science, but also strengthens stewardship, cultural continuity, and community well-being.

    CES approaches for program evaluation

    Evaluation of Reserve training often focuses on knowledge gained or skills applied, even though these activities also shape deeper connections between people and place. With more flexible evaluation tools, Reserves can also explore CES like identity, sense of place, reciprocal relationships, or spiritual connection. This not only makes evaluation more inclusive and meaningful, it shows how training is contributing to resilient estuaries and/or how they might be adjusted to do so in the future.

    Reserves across the country are learning how CES deepens connections with communities. Explore the map to see how Reserves are applying CES to real-world challenges and opportunities.