Grade by Grade
B. Natural Resources Around the World: Use and Sustainability · Natural Resources Around the World: Use and Sustainability

Who Protects Resources? Assessing Stewardship Efforts

B1.3 B1About 50 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can describe how international agencies, non-governmental organizations, Indigenous communities and governments work to protect natural resources.
  • I can use criteria to assess how effective a stewardship effort is.
  • I can suggest ways an effort could be improved.

Words to know

agency
An organization that does work for a government or for many governments, like a United Nations program.
non-governmental organization (NGO)
A non-profit group that is not run by a government, like an environmental charity.
Indigenous Guardians
First Nations, Métis and Inuit people who monitor and care for lands and waters in their territories.
protected area
Land or water set aside, like a park or conservation area, where development is limited.
quota
A limit on how much of a resource can be taken, like a catch limit for fish.
criteria
Standards used to judge something.

Remember from Grade 6

In Grade 6 you learned that many environmental problems cross borders and that countries cooperate through agreements and organizations. You also used criteria to judge whether a response is effective. Now you'll use those skills on efforts to protect natural resources.

Hook: who's on the team?

Protecting a forest, a river or the ocean takes a whole team: world organizations, charities, Indigenous communities, governments, companies and ordinary people. Each has different tools. Some are very effective; some fall short.

A clear river winds through a green boreal forest and pink granite rock outcrops, seen from a high lookout.
Protected areas like provincial parks keep forests, rivers and wildlife habitat safe from logging and mining. Who decides which areas get protected? AI-generated image

Who works to protect resources?

International agencies

  • The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was founded in 1972 and is based in Nairobi, Kenya. It gathers scientific information, helps countries make environmental agreements, and supports countries in protecting their environments.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

  • Groups such as Friends of the Earth International, the Rainforest Alliance and The Nature Conservancy research problems, campaign for change, run certification programs, or buy land to protect it. In Canada, the Nature Conservancy of Canada protects land by buying it or making agreements with landowners.

Indigenous communities

  • Across Canada, Indigenous Guardians programs employ community members to monitor wildlife, water and land, and to share knowledge between Elders and youth. For example, the Haida Gwaii Watchmen look after important village sites on Haida Gwaii in British Columbia.
  • In New Zealand, after a very long effort by Māori people (the Whanganui iwi), a 2017 law recognized the Whanganui River as a legal person with its own rights, reflecting the Māori view of the river as a living ancestor.

National and provincial governments

  • Governments set rules (regulations), like fishing quotas, pollution limits and protected areas. In Ontario, companies harvesting trees on Crown land (public land) must follow approved forest management plans that include making sure the forest is renewed.

Agreements between countries

  • The Montreal Protocol (1987), which you may remember from Grade 6, phased out most chemicals that damage the ozone layer. It is often called one of the most successful environmental agreements.
International agenciesUNEP (1972, Nairobi): science, agreementsNon-governmental organizationsresearch, campaigns, labels, buying land to protect itIndigenous communitiesGuardians programs watch over land, water, wildlifeGovernmentsrules: fishing quotas, pollution limits, protected areasAgreements between countriesMontreal Protocol (1987) protects the ozone layer
The team that protects resources. Each group uses different tools, from science and agreements to rules and Guardians programs.

Criteria for judging an effort

  1. Results: Is there evidence it worked (more fish, cleaner water, more forest)?
  2. Enforcement: Are the rules followed and checked?
  3. People: Were local and Indigenous communities included? Who benefits, and who pays?
  4. Lasting: Will it continue over time?
  5. Side effects: Did it cause any unintended problems?
Worked example

Let's assess an effort: the northern cod moratorium

Use the five criteria to assess Canada's 1992 northern cod moratorium.

  1. Results: The cod stock did not recover quickly. It stayed very low for many years, then grew in the 2010s. The fishery was reopened in 2024 after more than 30 years. Mixed results.
  2. Enforcement: Commercial fishing of northern cod was stopped. But the action came after the collapse, not before it.
  3. People: Many thousands of people lost their jobs. Government programs gave income support and retraining, but many communities shrank. Very costly for people.
  4. Lasting: The moratorium lasted more than 30 years, so the rule held over time.
  5. Side effects: Some fishers switched to shrimp and crab, which became important new fisheries.

The moratorium was necessary but came too late to prevent the collapse. Recovery was very slow, and people paid a high price. Lesson: protecting a resource before it collapses is far more effective.

Assessing the 1992 northern cod moratoriumResultsmixed: very slow recoveryEnforcementfishing stopped, but too latePeoplethousands of jobs lostLastingheld for 30+ yearsSide effectsnew shrimp and crab fisheriesweakerstronger
A scorecard for the cod moratorium using the five criteria. It held for a long time, but it came too late and cost people a lot.
Just for fun

Funny but true: some conservation groups protect nature by buying the land. Imagine owning a whole forest where the main rule is: don't change anything. Easiest chore list ever!

Hands-on activity

Rate a local effort

With a grown-up, find one effort to protect nature near you. Ideas: a conservation area, a provincial park, a tree-planting program, a river clean-up, a local Indigenous-led stewardship project, your town's recycling program.

  1. Find out who runs it (agency, NGO, Indigenous community, government, volunteers).
  2. Use the five criteria to score it from 1 (poor) to 3 (strong). Write a reason for each score.
  3. Suggest one improvement.
  4. Optional: visit it. If you go near water or on trails, go with a grown-up.

Look for: a score with reasons for every criterion, and an improvement linked to a weak criterion.

Your turn

1

What is UNEP, and where is it based?

2

Name two ways NGOs work to protect resources.

3

What do Indigenous Guardians do?

4

What did New Zealand's 2017 law recognize about the Whanganui River?

5

What is a fishing quota?

6

Why is the Montreal Protocol often called a success?

7

List the five criteria for judging an effort.

More practice: warm-up

1

What does NGO stand for?

2

In what year was UNEP founded?

3

What is a protected area?

4

Name one NGO from this lesson.

5

What are criteria?

More practice: on your own

1

Why might a rule be ineffective even if it is a good rule?

2

Why are Indigenous Guardians programs valuable for monitoring land?

3

Give one strength and one limit of NGOs buying land to protect it.

4

Why might a government's forest rules work better if local communities help make them?

5

What is the main lesson from the cod moratorium?

Challenge

1

Assess the Sudbury regreening effort (Lesson 6) using at least three criteria.

2

Why might recognizing a river as a legal person protect it in ways ordinary rules might not?

3

An NGO campaign gets a company to promise to stop buying wood from cleared rainforest. What evidence would you need to know if it worked?

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

What is the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)?

2.

Which is an example of an Indigenous-led stewardship effort?

3.

Which criterion asks whether rules are followed and checked?

4.

What did New Zealand recognize about the Whanganui River in 2017?

5.

What is the main lesson from the northern cod moratorium?

6.

Which statement about a fishing quota is true?

For parents and teachers

How to help: Visit a local park or conservation area, or look at its website together. Ask "Who runs this? How do they know it's working?" Practise using the five criteria on any effort in the news.

Common difficulties:

  • Judging an effort by its intentions instead of its results. Ask "What's the evidence?"
  • Forgetting the people side: who paid the cost and who benefited.
  • Thinking only governments protect resources. NGOs, Indigenous communities, companies and individuals all play roles.