Article Title：Stewardship of natural resources: Definition, ethical and practical aspects
Abstract：
Stewardship is potentially a useful concept in modernizing management philosophies. Use of the term has increased markedly in recent years, yet the term is used loosely and rarely defined in land management literature. The connections between this practical usage and the ethical basis of stewardship are currently poorly developed. The following definition is proposed: Stewardship is the responsible use (including conservation) of natural resources in a way that takes Cull and balanced account of the interests of society, future generations, and other species, as well as of private needs, and accepts significant answerability to society. A religious interpretation would require the phrase and ultimately to God to be added. Stewardship has both secular and religious interpretations and it will be desirable to develop both of these aspects in parallel. A task for philosophers is to establish whether the ethical basis of stewardship is sufficient to address environmental concerns or whether it is necessary to embrace wider ethical approaches. Stewardship occupies similar ground to several other concepts of use and management of resources, particularly sustainability. It can build on sustainability by encouraging a broader view of who and what should benefit from management activity. In particular, it focuses attention on the role of managers in providing public benefit and on envisaging other species as a form of stakeholder in management decisions. Stewardship is applicable across the widest range of fields of resource use and also has relevance to aspects of land tenure and property rights. Application of stewardship will require some adjustments in the roles of private managers/owners vis-a-vis government. It might provide managers with an expanded role and, importantly, a more positive image, both of themselves and in the eyes of the public. Stewardship could also be developed in a way that has relevance to citizens in general (as opposed to managers and owners of resources), through their interactions with natural resources as consumers.
Keywords: environmental ethics; land ethic; land reform; management; natural resources; public benefit; stewardship; sustainability
DOI: 10.1023/A:1009534214698
Source：JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
Welcome to correct the error, please contact email: humanisticspider@gmail.com
