Stewardship in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System

Stewardship in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System provides long-term protection of natural resources within the system’s twenty-six reserves and serves to model responsible management practices to coastal communities.

Stewardship is a functional role at each reserve, involving aspects of research, monitoring, education, policy and implementation of resource management actions. Many reserves have stewardship coordinators that work as an integrated team with other staff. Since reserve resources are often affected by activities on adjacent waters and watershed lands, stewardship involves close cooperation with stakeholders outside the reserve.

Stewardship activities vary among reserves due to different state partnership structures and since each reserve contains unique resources and issues. The system-wide program provides leadership, coordination, technical support and consistency for stewardship activities at national, regional and local levels.

Stewardship in Action
National Estuarine Research Reserve System programs that focus on stewardship involve understanding existing resource assets and activities that impair them. This involves a wide range of activities including land acquisition, habitat mapping, ecological restoration, resource inventories, biological monitoring, watershed management projects, endangered species protection, prescribed fire management, recreation management, regional planning, policy development and more.


For more information about stewardship in the estuarine reserves, contact Nina.Garfield@noaa.gov.