The notion of proenvironmental competency (PEC) is introduced, specified in a model, and tested. PEC is defined as “a capacity to effectively respond to environmental conservation requirements.” Proenvironmental skills constitute the capacity to act in an environmentally responsible way, whereas environmental perceptions, beliefs, motives, and values constitute environmental conservation requirements. Although skills are necessary elements for a competency, the requirements for conservation should also be present to shape such competency. Therefore, proenvironmental skills and requirements should correlate with each other under the influence of PEC. Using structural equations, a model was specified and tested, in which PEC was a factor emerging from correlations between proenvironmental skills and environmental motives, beliefs, and perceptions. PEC was also specified as covarying with a measure of conservation behavior. The resulting model revealed that PEC can be successfully modeled as proposed and that it saliently and significantly correlates with conservation behavior.
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