Species at Risk Stewardship Actions

Introduction to Stewardship:
Stewardship plays an important role in the conservation and recovery of species at risk in Nova Scotia.  Stewardship refers to the wide range of voluntary actions that Canadians take to care for the environment. Activities range from monitoring and conserving wildlife species and the places where they live (their habitat), to protecting and improving the quality of soil, water, air and other natural resources. These types of conservation activities, particularly those that protect habitat, are essential to the recovery of species at risk. They are also instrumental in preventing other species from becoming at risk in the first place.

Stewardship is an essential part of the cooperative process that brings together landowners, conservationists, governments and other partners to protect species and habitat.  Stewardship, simply stated, means Canadians - including landowners, private companies, governments, voluntary organizations, and individual citizens - are caring for the land, air and water, and sustaining the natural processes on which life depends.  In some instance recovery teams and groups actually believe that the stewardship approach outweighs the legislation.    

Nationally there is an increased emphasis on stewardship and education in species at risk recovery and conservation.  Under the federal Species at Risk Act, stewardship is the first response to critical habitat protection.  Hundreds of stewardship projects are already underway across Canada, many of them funded, as is this project, by the Government of Canada Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk, administered by Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Parks Canada Agency. 

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