What is the meaning and value of Earth’s ecosystems? Humans derive various essential benefits from the ecosystems they are a part of. Such benefits include the provision of food, the regulation of our climate, the mitigation of floods and storms, as well as the cultivation of a sense of place and spiritual experience. In this presentation, I first explore how different schools of economic thought value the contribution of ecosystems to human well-being. I then describe the results of a study I conducted about the way people value the benefits they derive from the Skwelwil’em/Squamish Estuary adopting a socio-cultural approach.