Ess Anonymous

This repository contains the anonymised analytical dataset, variable codebook and analysis code supporting the study “Wetlands as natural water infrastructure: assessing perceived importance, reported use and importance–use mismatch in Algerian wetland communities.” The study analysed 816 respondents from 29 villages associated with 16 wetlands in Algeria, surveyed between April and August 2023. The analyses examine perceived importance and reported use of wetland provisioning ecosystem services and the operational high-importance/low-use (HI–LU) response classification. The repository includes the variables required to reproduce the principal descriptive analyses, village-clustered generalised estimating equation (GEE) models, covariance-estimator sensitivity analyses, alternative HI–LU threshold definitions, village-level Wilson 95% confidence intervals, and wetland-level sensitivity analyses. To protect participant confidentiality, direct identifiers and geographic coordinates have been removed. Participant identifiers were newly generated, and village and wetland identifiers were pseudonymised; no correspondence between the public codes and the original geographic identifiers is provided. HI–LU should be interpreted as an operational response classification describing the co-occurrence of high perceived importance and low reported use, rather than as direct evidence of an ecosystem-service deficit, restricted access or management failure. A README and variable codebook are provided to document the analytical variables, coding decisions and reproducibility workflow.