Environmental stewardship and community seed banking: An analysis of stewardship in theory and on the ground

This paper explores the conceptual dimension of environmental stewardship from a neoplatonic frame, Patrick Dobel’s theology of nature, and Aldo Leopold’s philosophy on land ethic. Based on a reading of these works, stewardship as an ethical concept is normative. It seeks rational justifications that would define stewardship in relation to natural resources and the natural world. The paper aims to establish ethics of stewardship and relate it with the traditional approaches to environmental ethics, particularly land ethics. It examines how stewardship may be manifested “on the ground” and in the actual farming communities through Community Seed Banking and other seed conservation initiatives. Keywords: Environmental philosophy, environmental stewardship, land ethic, community seed banking, seed conservatio