It’s time for a paradigm shift in our relationship with nature: we need to move beyond extractionism and start looking after nature itself, says Ravi Prabhu, Director of Innovation, Investment, and Impact at CIFOR-ICRAF.

What is Stewardship Economy?

Stewardship Economy is an equitable system of exchange that rewards those managing nature sustainably for the goods and services derived from those landscapes – which often feed into markets to meet the needs of the global population – while recognizing and promoting the rights of all people to food, water, nutrition, health, voice, and a decent livelihood.

Coupled with pillars of the landscape approach and democracy, it builds upon classic notions of ‘stewardship’ in a modern context: a deliberate and informed combination of solicitude, foresight, and skill – a marriage of practice and ethics – that brings visible and tangible impacts in landscapes and ecosystems. It is underpinned by economic principles and financial mechanisms that will ensure fair and equal benefits and market inclusion of land managers while meeting consumers’ pricing needs. Shifting fully to a stewardship economy, which exists today in facets and fragments, can swiftly unblock pathways to a more sustainable future for a planet in crisis.

Learn more about Stewardship Economy here.