Exploration of community members' plural values: A case study of woodland creation in Waterside Hill

Forest plantation projects have become a prominent means of tackling climate change in recent years, simultaneously seeking to meet social and economic objectives. However, such projects can impact local communities, their values, and their meanings to nature. Moreover, plantation projects often reflect a green-on-green debate with opposing environmental arguments on each side of the debate. This study explores the context of Scotland, where a significant increase in woodland creation, as it is referred to in the Scottish context, has taken place in recent years. More specifically, this study investigates community members’ plural values and meanings on Waterside Hill in South Scotland and a related woodland creation project. Community meanings and values are complemented by the views of two other actors involved in the woodland creation project. The values and meanings are explored through concepts of instrumental, intrinsic, and relational values constituting the plural values. The place-based meanings of relational values are specifically captured through the sense of place (SOP) concept. The findings illustrate the presence of plural values in the woodland creation project, reflecting the overlaps, intersections, and conflicts between them. In particular, the findings highlight the significance of relational values, and hence place-based meanings, as well as the lack of their adequate recognition, understanding, and integration in the woodland creation project. The study further discussed the necessity of plural values through the integration of relational values in woodland creation projects, as well as the intrinsic complexity of achieving this.