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STEWARDSHIP
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"Stewardship is an expression of respect for other life forms and their needs and for the natural environment which supports us all."
--- KRM
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Many people work to restore and protect the environment. Some as individuals, others within a group.
Some groups specialize in habitat restoration and monitoring, while others take on those tasks as special projects, or turn up when there's a call for volunteers.
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Projects are undertaken by individuals, non-profit organizations and/or municipal, provincial or federal government staff.
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Governments create groups, in the form of committees or task forces, to advise them on stewardship and environment matters or projects. The group members are usually residents of the local community and government staff. Sometimes professional consultants are included.
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Advice on the environment needs to come from a broad overview, since the environment includes all of the physical world. The water cycle is especially relevant for streams.
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But our streams have already been altered to accommodate development and an urban lifestyle. Their water supply and water quality have already been negatively affected. Can this be fixed ?
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The good news is that there is now a better understanding of the impact of urban development, with some governments considering potential solutions to the problems - by replacing infrastructure differently, or changing the way things are done.
The challenge for government is that management tasks and responsibilities are usually separated, sorted by category and assigned to different departments - perhaps with differing mandates.
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Perhaps the best solution to the habitat and watershed problems would be to completely redesign and rebuild our cities - at least in concept. Knowing what really needs to be changed helps set priorities, but actually making the changes can be slow.
In the meantime, the existing problems cannot be solved by governments alone.
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Everyone needs to be an active steward.
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