Abstract
In recent years, environmental stewardship has been emphasized as one solution to social-ecological sustainability concerns, especially at the local scale. The Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project (STEW-MAP) is a national research program developed by the USDA Forest Service that has been implemented at numerous locations in the United States and internationally. This study compared the mission statements of environmental stewardship groups in the Los Angeles River Watershed to previously proposed definitions and frameworks of organizational environmental stewardship to see how well they were reflected. A thematic analysis of the mission statements was also carried out to identify locally important themes and priorities. Results show that, although often consistent, the mission statements do not always reflect existing concepts around environmental stewardship. Additionally, environmental stewardship is not always explicit in the mission statements of organizations that are known to conduct these activities. We suggest that non-traditional groups that engage in stewardship work (i.e., research institutions) as well as groups focused on social issues are overlooked actors in sustainable city goals. A more comprehensive definition of environmental stewardship may be needed to bridge the gap between research and practice.
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Reproduced with permission from the Council for Watershed Health
Adapted from Romolini et al. (2012)
Adapted from Romolini and Thomas (2022)
Adapted from Romolini and Thomas (2022)
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the responding organizations for their time and participation. Julia Pradel’s help in inventorying organizations, administering the survey, and cleaning data. We also thank the Los Angeles Center for Urban Natural Resources Sustainability, the LA River STEW-MAP planning Team, with members from Pacific Southwest Research Station, Urban Waters Federal Partnership, the Angeles National Forest, and Region 5 State and Private Forestry (Urban and Community Forestry). We thank the anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments and suggestions.
Funding
This project was through a USDA Forest Service cost share challenge grant (Agreement #18-CS-11052021-222) from the Pacific Southwest Region Urban and Community Forestry Program. Ethical approval for this research study was granted by Loyola Marymount University # 2018 SU 18/Romolini.
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Thomas, A.S., Romolini, M. Expanding current definitions of environmental stewardship through organizational mission statement analysis. Ambio 52, 1137–1150 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-023-01839-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-023-01839-y