About the Project

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) – or the non-material benefits that result from human relationships with the environment – support and maintain place-based values, worldviews, cultural identity, and well-being. Given their potential to reveal relationships between human and environmental well-being, the inclusion of CES in natural resource planning and decision making processes is critical to successful long-term application of stewardship and management strategies. Despite being one of four main categories of ecosystem services, CES are not often assessed due to significant theoretical and practical gaps in their identification and evaluation. This project addressed this need by establishing a sustainable network of CES practitioners that support each other, engage others through their CES experiences, and share methods that help identify and work within the unique socio-ecological contexts present across the Reserve System.

About this Resource

The project team created this Resource Guide for a wide range of users in response to feedback received from intended users in the NERRS. The guide contains three types of resources – background resources, job aids, and case studies – and provides resources to: 1) clarify what CES are and why they are worth engaging with; 2) highlight how NERRS programs and activities are already engaging with CES (whether or not they use this language); 3) make small adjustments to existing programs or activities in order to be more intentional about engaging with CES; and 4) provide examples of programs or activities that were motivated by a desire to engage with CES.