LESI: A quantitative indicator to measure local environmental stewardship

This method develops a local environmental stewardship indicator (LESI), which represents the level of stewardship action of a person at a place. The goal of the indicator is to quantify stewardship activity and allow it to be compared and modelled. LESI requires a brief interview to ascertain an individual's past and current stewardship activities, which are scored on a frequency scale for each of seven action categories. Scores are then combined using the LESI equation to: • Quantify reported stewardship behaviour (as opposed to attitudes or intentions) as a single number. • Enable comparisons of stewardship between individuals and places. • Allow development of models to understand the predictors of stewardship, and • Inform evidence-based strategies for stewardship improvement.