Valuing Nature for Wellbeing: Narratives of Socio-ecological Change in Dynamic Intertidal Landscapes

Contributing to the cultural ecosystem services literature, this paper draws on the in-depth place narratives of two coastal case-study sites in Wales (UK) to explore how people experience and understand landscape change in relation to their sense of place, and what this means for their wellbeing. Our place narratives reveal that participants understand coastal/intertidal landscapes as complex socio-ecological systems filled with competing legitimate claims that are difficult to manage. Such insights suggest that a focus on diachronic integrity (Holland and O'Neill 1996) within place narratives might offer a route to more socially and culturally acceptable environmental management strategies.

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INTRODUCTION
As the products of continuous interactions between biophysical and social worlds over millennia, landscapes are always changing. This is perhaps most perceptible at the coast, where tidal landscapes and their liminal intertidal zones repeatedly empty and fill, providing a highly visible temporality from hour to hour, unlike other natural cycles, which are usually imperceptible on a daily basis (Jones, 2010;197). As noted by Jones (2010), within these zones, the tidewhether high or low, rising or fallingcan become a marker of the lived flow of time, informing the interactions and experiences of local people with their surrounding environment.
Recognised for their symbolic and therapeutic qualities, as well as a range of other benefits, intertidal zones face increasing pressures from climate change, sea-level rise and human development (Thomas et al., Under Submission). Forecast to significantly affect the extent and distribution of vulnerable intertidal habitats, such as coastal wetlands, landscape change brought about by these processes will not only change the appearance of already dynamic coastlines, but alter ecosystem functioning and stability as well; likely impacting local people's sense of place and wellbeing in numerous ways (Arias-Arévalo et al., 2017).
Responding to environmental change -whether anticipated (or not), natural, or human-induced -is by no means a straightforward process, not least because making decisions about the future of cultural landscapes is fraught with tensions regarding the most appropriate way of moving forward (Henwood & Pidgeon, 2011;O'Neill et al., 2008).
Decision-makers, for example, prioritise protecting people and properties, taking less consideration of how landscape change brought about by management decisions might impact the affective qualities of places, including the attachments to and meanings associated with them (commonly called cultural, 'non-material' or 'intangible' values/benefits within resource management circles), and why such changes matter for human wellbeing. While the processes of integrating such concerns into decision-making are often claimed to be difficult and contentious, failing to do so can create critical social impacts, such as feelings of loss and exclusion, that can ultimately lead to the breakdown of well-intentioned management schemes (Gould et al., 2015;Stedman, 2003).
When considering the cultural dimension of ecosystem contributions to human wellbeing, it is often claimed that cultural ecosystem services (CES) are challenging to assess using the methodologies (i.e. quantitative) and valuation techniques (i.e. economic) usually associated with ecosystem service-based approaches (Chan et al., 2012). Commonly described as 'intangible' benefits that people obtain from ecosystems 1 within the ecosystem services literature, critics argue that CES require more appropriate assessments rooted in approaches that highlight culture's interpretative and provisional qualities (Chan et al., 2012;Fish et al., 2016a).
Responding to these claims, a small but growing body of CES scholarship draws on qualitative, participatory and situated approaches -commonly used in place-based research within the humanities and social sciences -that pay heed to the thoughts, feelings, perspectives and experiences of local communities to better understand the cultural values/benefits at stake when it comes to environmental management (Chan et al., 2016;Fish et al., 2016a;2016b;Gould et al., 2015;Klain et al., 2017;Pascual et al., 2017;Plieninger et al., 2013;Poe et al., 2016). Such approaches are best described as relational, allowing for human meaning and experience to be explored in the context of situated material processes and entities (Fish et al., 2016b;209;2016a;Schaich et al., 2010;Stenseke, 2018), where CES are recognised as the co-produced outcome of people's interactions with places, localities and landscapes (Chan et al., 2011), and where wellbeing is an emergent quality of emplaced 1 Through 'spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences' (MEA, 2005;4). processes and interactions; inherently dynamic and subject to change over time (Atkinson, 2013).
A relational approach to people-place interactions produces a more holistic understanding of cultural texts, practices and/or artefacts as being shaped by their material contexts, which in turn shape how people identify and express themselves (Ryfield et al., 2019;2). Nowhere is this more evident than in the embodied, situated experiencesthe sights, sounds, smells, haptics, feelings, thoughts, stories and conceptsthat make up a 'sense of place ' (Van Noy, 2003cited in Ryfield et al., 2019, where people are said to express stronger feelings of care and concern for local environments as well as an increased sense of wellbeing (Poe et al., 2016).
As noted by Ryden (1993), a sense of place is most clearly articulated through narrative expression, which gives meaning and coherence to people's lives and to the environments within which those lives are lived (O'Neill et al., 2008). Focusing on place narratives foreground why environments matter, as they embody the context in which human activities take place and through which we understand their value (p.198). Human stories not only embed themselves in patterns of place, however, but also in rhythms of time (Jones, 2010;197). It therefore stands to reason that when making decisions about the future of socio-ecological systems, we should operate with an eye to what Holland and O'Neill (1996) call diachronic integrity within place narratives. Diachronic integrity, as a principle of environmental ethics and conservation, requires us to consider environments within their temporal, or diachronic, contexts before determining how best to carry on their narrative by asking 'what would be the most appropriate trajectory from what has gone before?' (O'Neill et al., 2008;196). At its core, the concept is concerned with maintaining some form of coherence in a place's 'character' through time by avoiding sharp breaks in its story, such as for example, change on a grand scale that creates incongruity and strangeness (Brady, 2019). This is not to say that all change must be avoided, rather the onus is on the qualities of the changes taking place, and whether they are perceived as being appropriate within a particular context. Changes that are perceived as inconsistent in relation to the story, the 'sharp breaks' in Brady's argument, disrupt the flow of place narratives and compromise their integrity, or soundness, changing the character (or sense) of place in ways that are perceived negatively.
The notion of diachronic integrity therefore does not seek to stop change, but rather seeks to direct 'appropriate' change. How places are experienced, both sensorially and through an understanding of their historical background (including ecological, social, cultural and political), plays an important role in this process (Belhassen et al., 2017). Taking a diachronic approach to place narratives requires us to take on board these considerations when deciding how best to conserve an environment's character in relation to past, present and future changes (Brady, 2019).
Using a narrative approach to place/ landscape is not without its criticisms, however.
A focus on place-based narratives, for example, can be accused of valuing some places above others whilst also imposing a romanticised and often static view of cultural landscapes as unchanging (Brook, 2018). Assessing how well lives are going through narrative and history, however, does not deny nor challenge the need for change (O'Neill et al., 2008). Rather, a narrative approach to place/landscape serves as a conceptual tool for understanding the story of how a place got to its present state through many changes and developments over time (Brook, 2018;430). Additionally, it is important to note that there is rarely a singular, unifying narrative of place. Tensions exist between cultural and natural narratives, for example, which arise from the differing scale and pace of change between the two (Holland & O'Neill, 1996). Tensions also exist within cultural narratives, as some voices can be subverted by the more dominant discourses of the powerful and privileged. However, as noted by Brook (2018), acknowledging these tensions opens up a conversation about landscapes, and their associated meanings and values, through which multiple voices can be heard.
Despite the relevance of narrative approaches to CES as highlighted above, few scholars in this field have attempted to incorporate narrative into their research (notable exceptions include Bieling (2014), Ratter and Gee (2012) and Ryfield et al. (2019) wellbeing.

CONTEXT
In this paper, we present our work as part of the interdisciplinary CoastWEB 2 project, which aims to understand the contribution that coastal wetlands, saltmarshes in particular, make to human health and wellbeing in the UK at both local and national scales. Our contribution focuses on exploring localised cultural values at two Welsh case-study sites; the Taf estuary in Carmarthenshire, south Wales; and the Mawddach estuary in Gwynedd, north Wales ( Figure 1).

Case-study sites
Despite their distinctive histories and geographical differences, the two case-study sites have much in common. Both rivers, for example, flow through open and varied landscapes to eventually form wide, sandy estuaries that, along with their hinterlands, are considered important landscapes of cultural as well as natural heritage.
Boasting long and complex land-use histories spanning thousands of years (Gwynedd Archiological Trust, n.d.; NRW, 2015a), the case-sites are steeped in history; from placenames reflecting past human influences and ecological/geological features 3 , to the stories, legends, ruins and wreckages scattered along their respective coastlines. In contrast to their contemporary images as peaceful and pristine 'natural' landscapes, the estuaries were once teeming with activity. Agriculture 4 , resource extraction 5 , fishing/shellfish harvesting, and coastal trading have all historically thrived at both locations until their decline in the late nineteenth century.
3 A common feature of Welsh place names in particular 4 Traditionally a mainstay of the local economy at both case-sites, although its role in has somewhat diminished in recent times. to flood risk management adopted by the Council is one of 'managed retreat' -an adaptation strategy involving land-use change and the relocation of existing coastal defence infrastructure and communities further inland -which will be followed by a policy of 'no active intervention' (i.e. letting nature take its course) from 2055 (Haskoning UK, 2012).

Method
We used purposive and snowball sampling techniques to recruit twenty-six participants -twelve at Laugharne (Taf) and fourteen at various locations along the Mawddach 7 -in the Spring/Summer of 2018, with the view of exploring a wide range of perspectives and experiences at the coastal case-sites. Recruitment involved identifying potential participants either through local gatekeepers and by the researchers positioning themselves in high-traffic areas at the respective case-study areas (for example in pubs, cafés, shops). Our purposefully heterogeneous sample consisted of adults -13 men and 13 womenranging in age from their 20s-70s, which engaged with the coast to varying degrees; through work (including land managers, outdoor recreational practitioners, a boatman, local councilors, and a student), hobbies (including a litter picker, environmental/wildlife volunteers, members of walking groups, and a dog walker), and/or living locally (defined as living in one of the settlements along the respective case-study sites), as well as a small number who occasionally visit the case-study sites from further afield 8 . To draw out a narrative understanding of place, we employed a multimodal qualitative methodology that attends 'to a variety of modes that surround us (visual, verbal, audio, spatial)' (Henwood et al., 2017;601), which is particularly relevant when interested in the multi-faceted qualities of people-place relations and interactions in-situ.
Designed to be open-ended, our methodology offered our participants ample opportunities for expressing their values in the manner most comfortable to them.
Our bespoke methodology consisted of three phases. First, participants were asked to take/gather photographs of things they encountered that they felt were of significance or 7 Travelling 9 miles in-land, the Mawddach estuary has more settlements along its shores than the Taf. The settlements along the Mawddach that were included in the research are Barmouth (Welsh: Abermaw/ Y Bermo), Fairbourne, Arthog, Dolgellau, Penmaenpool (Welsh: Llyn Penmaen) & Llanelltyd. 8 Including those that have grown-up in/ have a prior connection to one of the settlements along the respective case-study sites but have since moved elsewhere.
value during their interactions with the estuary/coast 9 for later use during the third phase (see Thomas et al., In Press for further detail). Second, participants took researchers on a seminatural 'go-along interview' 10 (Hall, 2009) along a personally significant route at the estuary/coast, where they were encouraged to lead the conversation whilst being guided to think about their experiences, thoughts and feelings about being by the coast and its impact on their wellbeing. Third, participants were invited to take part in a sit-down interview, where they were encouraged to reflect on the topics raised during the go-along through the use of three further tasks; photo-elicitation, mapping and word associations. For the photoelicitation task, participants were encouraged to discuss the personal significance of the photographs they had provided of their relationship with the coast. Next, participants were asked to annotate an Ordinance Survey map, provided by the researchers, with insights about their interactions with the coast (e.g. favourite/least favourite places, memories, stories, frequented routes etc.) and how this relationship affects their wellbeing. Lastly, participants were presented with 47 word-cards and asked to comment on anything that came to mind, with the view of prompting discussion on topics that they felt were important but had yet to be covered during the interview so far. Our open-ended approach to interviewing provided us with 'routes into the relational nature of space and place' allowing insights into 'the meaning, and the way that places are made' (Bates, 2019;11). Asking participants about their memories, experiences, feelings and embodied interactions with place also enabled us to explore their personal expressions of wellbeing, and how they may have changed over time (Bell et al., 2015).
Interviews were conducted according to participants' linguistic preferences 11 , and were audio-recorded using field recorders with lapel mics, and GPS-tracked. The audio data was later professionally transcribed/translated, before being coded by the researchers using NVivo 11 software. An inductive approach to coding was taken, whereby themes arose from the researchers' reading of the raw textual data. Themes relating to a sense of place and landscape change at various spatial and temporal scales were identified as significant at both case-sites and formed the basis of our line of inquiry. The process of analysis started by looking at the landscape changes participants noticed at their respective case-sites, before widening out to knowledge of wider socio-cultural changes, both historic and recent. Later, we used cross referencing analysis to explore the nuances expressed in the people-place narratives of the two case-sites, and to harness, clarify, and utilise insights that had been generated from the situated encounters (Sørensen et al., 2018). The resulting insights were developed through the constant interplay between the data, the researchers' developing conceptualisations and their experiences (Henwood & Pidgeon, 1992). In accordance with protocols approved by the School of Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee at Cardiff University, all names presented here are pseudonyms (apart from one participant, who requested we use their real name), proceeded by where the in-situ interview took place.

FINDINGS
Narrating intertidal landscapes: Natural changes and rhythmic affects 11 Either in Welsh or in English At both case-sites, participants commented on the dynamic nature of the everchanging estuarine landscape(s). Rhythmic changes manifest at multiple spatio-temporal scalesin the diurnal ebb and flow of the tide, processes of erosion and deposition 12 , the steady migration of river channels, and seasonal transformationswere cited in overwhelmingly positive terms. Changes in colour and light, dependent upon when the estuary was encountered and weather conditions met, were also discussed by participants as part and parcel of the case-sites' appeal, making the intertidal zone an 'interesting' place to be (Nia, 50s, Fairbourne -Maw). (Rachel, 30s, Laugharne -Taf) As highlighted in Rachel's quote, 'natural' and rhythmic changes were viewed as fleeting yet familiar, generating a sense of comfort for participants. This sense of comfort was also communicated through participants' expressions of the tidal landscapes as being "quite timeless" despite their dynamism (Jennifer, 30s, Black Scar -Taf).
Witnessing/encountering rhythmic and cyclical changes generated a positive affective state, which was often described in terms of an appreciation of being a part of something bigger than oneself (i.e. nature), enhancing participants' relationship with place; "I get that  References were commonly made to the waterways' key role in shaping place identity. At Laugharne for example, coastal trade and cockling were identified as "vital in the past" (Alan, 60s, Laugharne -Taf), being "one of the things that sustained the populations to stay in the local economy" (Brian, 60s Laugharne -Taf  dismay from some locals. Linda (50s, Fairbourne -Maw), for example, stated that the breach was felt by some in the community to have threatened a local business that periodically used the land. The breach had also reportedly devastated skylark nesting grounds that were in view of Linda's back garden, and had decimated a wildflower meadow on the outskirts of the village, making the land look "bleak" and uninviting; "even the rush looks like it's dying [laughs]" (Nia, 50s, Fairbourne -Maw). This was particularly perplexing for Nia, a regular user of the wildflower meadow for walking and picnicking, as she did not understand why NRW breached the embankment, suggesting a lack of communication between the land management organisation and the local community that stood to be affected. Further along inland, lapwings and rare flowers were also felt to have become scarcer in recent years, a trend that was attributed to ecological conservation efforts (Ioan, 40s, Arthog -Maw).
Ioan talked at length about how he had witnessed nesting lapwings disappear from his land, which he attributes to a growth in the local badger 16 population following the implementation of policies that protect them. He also discussed how the local area had once been famed for its rare flowers, which have since disappeared;

Anticipated futures: Finding a balance
When discussing the future of the estuaries, participants at both case-sites strongly expressed preferences to conserve the landscape as it is (i.e. naturally dynamic) for future generations to enjoy as they have, lest people "lose their connection to nature" (Fred, 70s, A tension between others' preference for 'letting nature be nature' and the need to manage the coastline is evident in Ioan's quote. Along with the threat of rising sea levels as a consequence of climate change, such tensions are likely to become more commonplace along both coastlines.

DISCUSSION
The stories people tell about a place, reveals much about the meaningfulness of situated human-environment relations (Tadaki et al., 2017). Our narrative work highlights how highly perceptible natural rhythms and cycles are an integral part of meaningful interactions that make up a sense of place at coastal/intertidal landscapes (see also Jones, 2010). Specifically, how participants discussed the qualities of landscape change encountered during their everyday environmental interactions offered us a way exploring the dynamic between their sense of place and wellbeing through time. Interpreted either through a lens of continuity or disruption, landscape change impacted place narratives, and participants' sense of wellbeing, in various ways.
Through the lens of continuity, feelings of wellbeing were expressed as a deep-seated, lived connection with cultural and (seemingly uninterrupted) natural heritage over time. For example, in participants' discussions of natural changes and rhythmic affects, cyclical natural processes were celebrated, positively affecting participants through an aesthetic appreciation of complexity and variability in a familiar environment (see Lengen, 2015). Such processes were part and parcel of what participants perceived to be a 'stable' natural system, where stability is characterised by cycles of dynamism rather than stasis. The persistence of rhythmic change was integral in shaping participants' wellbeing, which was often expressed through feelings of comfort (i.e. through things always changing but staying the same) as well as a connectedness to nature (i.e. in witnessing and experiencing these changes). Discomfort also played a role in shaping an emplaced sense of wellbeing for some of our participants, as they discussed affective experiences of (temporarily) uncomfortable interactions with the landscape (i.e. physiological discomfort from bad/sudden changes in weather) in positive terms. Such findings point to the role that multiple temporalitieshourly, daily, monthly, annual and even longer time-scaleshave in shaping a sense of dynamic stability that is deeply valued by participants at both case-sites. ways (see also Poe et al., 2016;Brook, 2018).
Disruptive changes on the other hand, were those that were perceived to disturb natural rhythms and impact personal/collectively shared place meanings and embodied interactions with the estuarine case-sites in negative ways. Such changes were often interpreted as resulting, either directly or indirectly, from anthropogenic activities; perceptions that were expressed in our data through narratives of meddling and loss. Such narratives were encountered in participants' discussion of ecological changes and anticipated futures, where feelings of loss were attributed to the incremental changes encountered in the landscape, evidenced through the increasing presence of invasive plant and animal species as well as through alterations in localised biophysical processes. Such changes were encountered in active and passive ways, as dune formation disrupted passive, or visual, engagement and connection with the sea, and silting disrupted active engagement with the water through limiting various access opportunities to the estuary. Interestingly, these are not sudden, or 'sharp', changes on a 'grand scale' as discussed by Brady (2019). Instead the cumulative, disruptive changes might best be thought of as a slow process of whittling away the meaningful connections and interactions that are so integral to the continuation of a coherent story of place through time. When discussing potential solutions to these disruptive changes (such as dredging the river), however, tensions arose between the need to sustainably manage the landscape and the need to 'leave nature alone'. Such insights reveal that participants understand coastal/intertidal landscapes as complex socio-ecological systems filled with competing legitimate claims that are difficult to manage. The question of how best to respond to potentially disruptive environmental change without exacerbating loss is, however, an inherently difficult one.
By attending to the affective qualities of places -through the meanings, attachments and embodied, sensorial interactions relayed in stories about themwe have revealed much about what is at stake when it comes to deciding the future direction of place narratives. The notions of continuity and disruption formed the central tenet to exploring diachronic integrity (Holland & O'Neill, 1996) in the narratives of the two case-sites, guiding our reading of the data and providing insight on how dynamic stability is deeply valued by participants at both estuaries. Asking about the future, however, revealed tensions between the need to preserve the integrity of such narratives and the need to protect people and property from rising sea levels. Tensions were expressed by our participants through narratives of meddling and loss, derived from past experiences of 'inappropriate' changes that were perceived to disrupt the dynamic stability that characterised their sense of place, and impact their embodied interactions with the landscape that was integral to their wellbeing. Finding an appropriate way forward without compromising the respective case-sites' dynamic stability will by no means be straightforward however, as it entails a collective effort involving deliberation between the diverse interests of multiple groups (Robinson & Elliott, 2011). As noted by Brady (2019) and Brook (2018), there are no definitive answers, nor hard and fast rules when it comes to environmental decision-making, and it is rarely possible to please everyone. What place narratives, and the concept of diachronic integrity in particular, offers us is a frame through which to explore what matters to people in particular contexts, widening our conception of the valued CES within a place, and accordingly, providing a potential starting point for a more culturally sensitive and inclusive environmental decision-making process.

CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, we have contributed to the CES literature by drawing on the in-depth place narratives to draw out how people experience and understand landscape change in relation to their sense of place, shedding light on what participants perceived to be at stake when it comes to wellbeing in dynamic environments. Our qualitative, multimodal approach allowed for a sensorial and socio-cultural understanding of coastal/intertidal landscapes as valued but vulnerable environments. Like others before us (e.g. Bieling, 2014;Plieninger et al., 2015), our work highlights the importance of situated experience when it comes to people-place relations and place-making. Findings point to the need to appreciate a diversity of values, attachments and concerns expressed among communities/publics, both local and further afield, and the potential tensions between these perceptions (see Westling et al., 2014). In this vein, qualitative, multimodal methodologies can be used effectively to engage communities/publics by enabling them to develop connections to intertidal landscapes through situated experiences and storytelling, fostering a deeper understanding of the values, needs, desires and fears for the future held by diverse groups. When it comes to policy, such insights lead to a recognition that values are not 'isolatable from the contexts of place, time and culture' (Kenter et al., 2019;1450) and that management decisions should be tailored to attend to community concerns.