Environmental stewardship refers to the responsible use in the protection and enhancement of natural resources. It involves the efforts of individuals as well as families and communities to preserve, sustain, or improve the https://mountaincountryfarm.com/what-is-environmental-stewardship/ health of local natural resources. Local environmental stewardship can be achieved through actions and practices like maintaining or planting community gardens, taking down invasive species, volunteering to clean up the public spaces, monitoring wildlife habitats or participating in cleanup events for the watershed. It could also involve communities in the process of planning policies and making decisions that affect the environment on the state or local level. The scholarly literature on stewardship has provided a variety of insights about underlying factors that affect its results. These include strategies for sustainable livelihoods, CBNRM and adaptive co-management as well as concepts of a socio-ecological system and ecological sustainability.
Generally, stewardship is driven by the desire to meet environmental or social goals (e.g. increasing biodiversity, restoring habitats which have been damaged, preserving fish catches or wildlife). The process of setting goals often involves considering the desired advantages, risks, and costs of stewardship activities. Economic motivations include the desire to earn external rewards or avoid sanctions including financial incentives to stewardship activities that reduce environmental impacts and market premiums for products that are environmentally friendly and fines for violating regulated resource uses (Wunder 2007).).
A broader view of environmental stewardship also includes the concept of civic action which is a type of environmental stewardship. Communities or individuals can engage in actions to improve environmental quality by following a cycle of reflection, practice and research. This cycle helps them master knowledge, skills and beliefs that empower them to engage in environmental stewardship as a part of daily life (Stern 2000 offsite link).
