Ecosystem services valuation (ESV) is a set of method s to estimate the economic value of ecosystem services.  Very little is known about the actual use and influence of ESV in decision - making even though its purpose is specifically to support ecosystem management. We developed nation - wide online  surveys that  collected information about  coastal and marine  managers’ perceptions regarding past and present use of  ESV (88 respondents) and examined  the perception of the general  public (256 respondents) regarding ESV and its usefulness in coastal and  marine management . This is important in view of their increasing participative role in decision - making process. We compared the different groups to shed light on the expectations and preferences of both sides, and to provide guidelines to foster the use of ESV in coastal and marine management.