About Us

Standing Behind Subsidiarity, Ready to Assist

The Ocean River Institute practices environmental subsidiarity by standing behind ready to assist citizen-science groups, coastal watershed monitoring organizations, and ocean river watch programs to promote their work and to assist only as needed.

Subsidiarity is a very old concept and pattern of thought, surprisingly so given how little one hears of subsidiarity today.  It is an organizing principle for community-based governance in concert with larger forms of government. 

Subsidiarity calls for close respectful partnerships amidst all levels of government, local, regional, state, federal and international. Working with respect for the community be they students or resource users, with the principle of environmental subsidiarity we can restore diverse wildlife, healthy ecosystems and even quality of life.  

Subsidiarity is a two-fold principle.  First, any particular task should be decentralized to the lowest level of organization with the capacity to conduct it satisfactorily.  Second, while the higher level of organization reframes from undertaking tasks that could be preformed by a grouping closer nature, it is still responsible for the skill training and competencies of the group carrying out the task to the extent that the lesser groups performs as well as the other.  According to the principle of subsidiarity credit goes to the grouping closest to natural resources and wildlife while responsibility is borne by all.

Mangrove shore of Beef Island was threatened by megayacht marina and golf course without buffer areas. Roseated flamingoes and, less often, West Indian Whistling Ducks feed here. This is home for the elusive white-cheeked pigeon.

For example, the Ocean River Institute assisted the newly formed Virgin Island Environmental Council raise awareness for plans to forever alter with developments pristine and vital marine areas.  ORI with many stewards had the means to reach out, to engage much wider and more diverse individuals who might visit BVI or many who simply did not wish to see one more natural areas destroyed.  ORI responded to VIEC’s request within ten weeks raising more than 18,000 individuals putting their names and thoughts to work to save BVI.

Environmental subsidiarity means we stand together in defense of environmental degradation, shield natural resources, fauna and flora, from exploitation. Together, respectful of local knowledge, we manage adaptively and collectively, informed by expanding understandings of dynamic ecosystems.