Whose Values Count? Using Choice Modelling to Assess Values Held by Indigenous People for Floodplain Development.

Considerations of equity are important components of sustainable development criteria, but remain difficult to incorporate in economic analysis. Various non-market environmental valuation techniques have been developed and refined to incorporate environmental factors into economic valuation but little consideration is given to social factors. A recent Choice Modelling (CM) study has examined issues relating to the trade offs between development and conservation in the Fitzroy River Basin. The study assessed the values and opinions of various populations selected on a geographical basis. This paper will describe a complimentary CM survey that included Aboriginal cultural heritage as an attribute of floodplain development, and assessed the values and opinions of both the Indigenous and the general community. Differences between the two groups are examined and the policy implications discussed.