The Interdependent Web

The Interdependent Web

Interdependent communities are groups of people living in the same are who share common needs and depend on other members of the community to meet those needs. Shared needs create a foundation for mutual care and accountability of all community members. How does stewardship play a role in this? Well, when an individual embraces stewardship, they cultivate a sense of care, belonging, and connection to the land and the life there within, including other members of the community. Stewardship brings accountability; a responsibility to protect and preserve the life that the land sustains.

The sense of care and feeling of accountability are strengthened as we understand how our actions affect everything around is - both the environment and the community. We are a part of a living web, where strings of the web affect each other; if one string pulls to far one way, the web might break and need restoration.

Being a steward means to do your best at ensuring the web is balanced and unbroken. But there are many strings on the web, too many for one person to care for alone. This is why stewardship thrives in community - when caring is shared for a split between community members, sustaining the life of the web is easier. The web has more people to care for its aesthetics, integrity, resilience, and strength.

Biodiversity loss can occur if our web is not properly cared for. In interdependent communities, each member has a role in maintaining balance in the ecosystem Members may decide to misuse, overuse, or exploit resources and/or the environment, and when this happens, the web begins to deteriorate. If the web is left in this condition too long, its integrity begins weakened. This shows that without the support of a connected community, our environemnt can be at risk of losing biodiversity.

Biodiversity is typically lost when communities are not connected the land. For instance, habitat loss is primarily due to human-related activities and developed land and is one of the biggest factors in biodiversity loss.

Stewardship invites us to reconnect and care about biodiversity loss. It promotes a person's sense of belonging in the web and proves that the actions that we make cultivate differences. In interdependent communities, stewardship invites us to do this together, as a unified community.

If you are part a community, you are already holding a thread. Chances are, you are part of a community at your school, work, church, or in the neighborhood. Stewardship starts with caring and noticing how we can make a difference - it does not require you to be an expert in environmental care, but it does require choosing to act in a way that helps protect the environment and the life it sustains.

Related Article:

First Steps of a Steward

10/12/2025 By: Victoria Christman