Restoration and Stewardship Volunteerism
Recent scholars writing on the topic of ecological restoration propose a holistic view of ecosystem restoration wherein both ecosystem needs and human needs must be considered in the design and implementation of restoration projects. Such a view suggests
- PDF / 310,328 Bytes
- 16 Pages / 504 x 720 pts Page_size
- 55 Downloads / 210 Views
Restoration and Stewardship Volunteerism Marty Lee and Paul Hancock
Recent scholars writing on the topic of ecological restoration propose a holistic view of ecosystem restoration wherein both ecosystem needs and human needs must be considered in the design and implementation of restoration projects. Such a view suggests that both ecosystems and restoration practitioners benefit from restoration projects (Higgs 2003; Clewell and Aronson 2006, 2007; Light 2008). Within this reciprocal relationship, humans contribute ecological knowledge, techniques, participation, and commitment that benefit degraded ecosystems (see chap. 18, this volume). Conversely, involvement in restoration projects contributes to human well-being in a variety of ways including restoring ecosystem values, such as biodiversity and natural capital. Such actions also provide participants with psychological, physiological, economic and spiritual benefits, including learning new things, connecting with the natural environment, earning a living, doing something worthwhile, making amends for human-caused environmental damage, and realizing personally renewing experiences (Miles, Sullivan, and Kuo 2000; Clewell and Aronson 2006; chap. 16, this volume). Geist and Galatowitsch (1999) among others suggest that, while critical to successful ecological restoration, scientific knowledge alone cannot ensure success. Ongoing human participation and commitment are critical to ensuring the long-term success and sustainability of restoration projects. Humans play various roles in ecological restoration projects: sponsors, administrators, decision makers, and practitioners—those who supervise and carry out projects in the field. This chapter focuses on a specific group of practitioners—volunteers— those people who give their time on a voluntary basis with the common purpose of preserving, protecting, and restoring nature. Volunteers contribute thousands of hours and perform a variety of restoration functions, including education, research, fund raising, and physical labor (e.g., gathering seeds, planting trees, removing exotic plant species, and ecosystem monitoring). Land managers, researchers, and others engaged in ecological restoration are increasingly relying on the efforts of volunteers, many of whom belong to organized groups. We refer to these organized groups of volunteers as volunteer stewardship groups,
D. Egan (eds.), Human Dimensions of Ecological Restoration: Integrating Science, Nature, and Culture, 23 The Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration, DOI 10.5822/978-1-61091-039-2_2, © Island Press 2011
24
participation: volunteers
and they include those groups who participate in ecological restoration. Such volunteers can be considered stewards of the land, particularly when viewed from a holistic, reciprocal view of ecological restoration. Our discussion of volunteers, however, includes more than simply those who work on ecological restoration projects. In order to make use of the rich and relevant literature about volunteering, we looked m
Data Loading...
