From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Environmental volunteers conduct a range of activities including environmental monitoring (e.g. wildlife); ecological restoration such as revegetation and weed removal, and educating others about the natural environment. The uptake of environmental volunteering stems in part from the benefits for the volunteers themselves, such as improving social networks and developing a sense of place^[1].

Like other types of volunteering, environmental volunteers are motivated by a range of different factors, some of which are altruistic and others are for personal interest and development. Recognised motivations are^[2]: 1) making a contribution to community, 2) promoting social interaction, 3) personal development, 4) learning about the natural environment, 5) a general ethic of care for the environment, and 6) attachment to a particular place.

Volunteers have been increasingly conducting roles such as environmental monitoring meanwhile public investment in professional environmental managers to conduct those roles has tended to decline^[3].

See also

Sustainable development portal

• Volunteering
• Virtual_volunteering
• Voluntarism (action)
• Greenpeace
• Sierra Club

References

1. ^ Gooch M. (2005) ‘Voices of the volunteers: an exploration of the experiences of catchment volunteers in coastal Queensland, Australia’, Local Environment 10(1), pp. 5-19.
2. ^ Measham, T.G. and Barnett, G.B. (2007) Environmental volunteering: motivations, modes and outcomes Socio-Economics and the Environment in Discussion (SEED) working paper 2007-03 CSIRO, Canberra
3. ^ Savan, B., Morgan, A.J. and Gore, C. (2003) ‘Volunteer environmental monitoring and the role of the universities: the case of citizens' environment watch’, Environmental Management 31(5), pp. 561-68.