Committed to the conservation, enhancement and stewardship of habitat across Newfoundland and Labrador

The Stewardship Association of Municipalities (SAM) is comprised of a network of municipalities who have formally committed to the practice of environmental stewardship in Newfoundland and Labrador. SAM is an incorporated, non-profit organization.

SAM works in close partnership with the Province's Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, Wildlife Division to identify significant wildlife habitat found within municipal planning boundaries and to encourage municipalities to seek a balance between development and conservation of this land.
 

Municipal members sign Habitat Stewardship Agreements with the provincial government, publicly committing to the conservation of important wildlife habitat found within their municipal planning boundaries. The first Habitat Stewardship Agreements were signed in 1993 in Gander and Whitbourne.

Municipalities met for the first time in 1994 to share experiences and plan conservation projects, and SAM was formally incorporated in 1999. Since that time, SAM has been successful in encouraging more than 50 municipal governments to engage in wildlife habitat conservation, enhancement and stewardship. SAM’s membership secures over 71,000 acres of wildlife habitat and continue to influence land use activities over more than 671,000 acres right across the province.

SAM’s primary role, in supporting the activities of the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture (EHJV), has been to promote habitat conservation by bringing together the two entities with jurisdiction over land, namely the municipality and the provincial government. Once an agreement has been signed between the parties, SAM continues to support and facilitate the relationship, in partnership with other members of the NL EHJV, by engaging members in environmental education, habitat restoration or enhancement projects and ongoing stewardship.