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Contents
• What is sustainable development?
• How successful are sustainable development projects at conserving biodiversity?
• How can we best promote sustainability?
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What is sustainable development?
• In the 1980s, the concept of sustainable development emerged as the means by which biodiversity and natural ecosystems would be saved while enabling humanity to continue to prosper.
• The concept was first promoted by the World Conservation Strategy (IUCN/UNEP/WWF 1980), a global conservation blueprint that grew from the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972.
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• This report was followed by Our Common Future, also called the Brundtland Commission Report, followed by further elaborations made for and after the next two major United Nations conferences in Rio de Janiero in 1992 and in Johannesburg in 2002.
• The Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development and Johannesburg Plan of Implementation have been adopted by many governments and global institutions as a guide to environmentally compatible development.
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What is sustainable development?
• Despite three decades of discussion and practice, disagreement about what sustainable development can and does achieve continues.
• Sustainable development has been defined in many ways. (Table 16.1)
• Most definitions have been largely anthropocentric, focusing on human aspirations and well-being, with the natural environment providing the means by which this was to be accomplished.
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Table 16.1 A list of common concepts included in definitions of sustainable development
• What is to be sustained– Nature
– Human communities (groups, places)
• What is to be developed– People (child survival, life expectancy, health, food
security, equity, education)
– Economy (living wage, wealth, consumption)
– Society (stabilized population, housing, institutional capacity, social capital, states, regions)
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Anthropocentric vs. biosphere initiative
• Sustainable development is almost exclusively an anthropocentric concept, and moreover one that promotes continued and even expanded economic prosperity.
• Such definitions are utilitarian.
• The definitions do not promote biological sustainability for it own sake.
• The Ecological Society of America produced a “Sustainable Biosphere Initiative” in which a research agenda was proposed to help move the world toward sustainability.
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Growth vs. development
• Growth is a quantitative increase in the size of a system
• Development is a qualitative change in its complexity and configuration.
• An economic, social, political, or biophysical system can develop without growing, and thus can be sustainable.
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How are sustainable development projects structured?
• Sustainable development efforts have many additional names, including integrated conservation and development projects (ICDP), community-based conservation (CBC), community adaptation and sustainable livelihoods (CASL) projects, sustainable use, compatible use, and sustainable practices.
– Sustainable agriculture and sustainable forestry.
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• Sustainable development projects typically use a number of economic tools to promote sustainability, including incentives such as certification, subsidies and grants, or job creation in sustainable enterprises, and sometimes penalties, such fines or fees for continuing unsustainable practices.
• Legislation to protect key resources, and restrict or prevent damaging practices is another key tool in sustainable development.
• Sustainable development projects often are part of a larger strategy for landscape-or ecosystem- scale conservation.
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Integrated conservation and development projects (ICDP)
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How successful are sustainable development projects at conserving biodiversity?
• The more intensive uses are largely unable to conserve most components of biodiversity (Table 16.2)
• Perhaps consideration of distinct development options side-by-side with various criteria (Table 16.1) may best enable decision-making over the directions to take.
• The most extreme change is a project called “Hidorvia”, which would involve channelizing the Paraguay river to enhance barge transport of goods from the interior of Brazil to international ports, and the creation of dams for agricultural development. (Table 16.3).
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Sustainability vs. number of people
Subsistence use Local markets National markets Multi-national trade
Economic returnNumber of people supportedSpatial extent
sustainability
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Fig. 16.3 a schematic of the logic behind community-based, enterprise-based conservation projects that seek to enhance benefits from developing and enterprise with the expectation that the local community will be more motivated to conserve biodiversity that supports that enterprise.
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How can we best promote sustainability?
• Ecological principles of sustainability
1. Nature should be understood to be an irreplaceable source of knowledge, from which we can learn potential solutions to some of our problems
2. We should understand that issues of environmental deterioration and human oppression( 壓迫 ) and violence( 暴力 ) are linked in analysis and action. Gender( 性別 ) and racial( 種族 ) oppression, and efforts to dominate nature have a common root.
3. Humility( 謙卑 ) must guide our actions; good stewardship begins with restraint ( 克制 ).
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4. We must appreciate the importance of “proper scale”. Place and locality are the foundation for all durable economies, and must be the starting point of action to deal with our problems. Solutions are local and scale-dependent.
5. Sufficiency must replace economic efficiency. Earth’s resources are finite, and this fact must be accepted in order for humanity to adopt limits. Living within our needs on a planetary scales does not mean a life of sacrifice, but of greater fulfillment. We must distinguish between “needs” and “wants”.
6. Community is essential for survival. The “global community” should reflect and encourage diversity while being interdependent.
7. Biological and cultural diversity must be preserved, defended, and encouraged.
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Case study 16.1 Ecotourism and biodiversity conservation• Tourism is one of the largest industries in the
world, involving over 700 million travelers and generating one out of every 12.3 jobs in the world in 2003, with continued growth expected.
• In the past three decades, a growing trend in ecotourism and sustainable tourism development has defined an opportunity for tourism to contribute to biodiversity conservation efforts if it is carefully planned, implemented, and monitored.
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The evolution of sustainable tourism and ecotourism concepts
• Tourism caused impacts
1. Social impacts (cause disruption of social structures)
2. Cultural impacts (motivating people to compromise their practices or dignity for tourist dollars)
3. Economic impacts (negative) ( 過度外來的經濟力量 )
4. Environmental impacts
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Ecotourism and sustainable tourism development
• Ecotourism, defined broadly as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local peoples.
1. Contributes actively to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage
2. Includes local and indigenous communities in its planning, development, and operation, contributing to their well-being
3. Interprets and natural and cultural heritage of the destination to visitor(s).
4. Lends itself better to independent travelers, as well as to organized tours for small size groups.
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• The terms “sustainable tourism”, “nature-based tourism” and “ecotourism” are used interchangeably.
• Ecotourism help ensure environmental protection, cultural integrity, and community benefit.
• The ecotourism industry promotes standards through voluntary mechanisms such as certification, which audits businesses for performance in use of environmentally-sustainable practices.
• Examples of certification efforts include global programs such as Green Globe 21, the National Ecotourism Accreditation Program in Australia, Costa Rica’s Certificate of Sustainable Tourism, and Smart Voyager in the Galapagos.
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Linking ecotourism and biodiversity conservation
• Financing for biodiversity conservation
• Alternative livelihoods( 生計 ) for local people
• Constituency and stewardship for biodiversity
• Providing an economic justification for protecting areas
• Creating an impetus( 促進 ) for private conservation
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Planning ecotourism development for biodiversity conservation• Stakeholder participation
• Government leadership
• Assessments
– Attractions ( 吸引力 ) inventory
– Site and infrastructure analysis
– Market demand
– Supply and competitiveness
– Available capacity
– Socioeconomic linkages to biodiversity conservation
– Tourism impacts
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Assessments can inform the larger preparation of tourism-related planning such as
• Park or protected area management plans
• Strategic tourism development plans
• Community development plans
• Tourism enterprise development plans
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Putting ecotourism and conservation in perspective
• Only a small fraction of tourism businesses world wide are operating under sustainable or ecotourism principles.
• However, the number of tourism projects being developed to contribute to conservation grows every year as more governments, NGOs, communities, and private sector actors incorporate sustainability and ecotourism principles into their planning.
• Clearly it is one of several viable options for linking community benefits to biodiversity conservation, and providing financing and justification for protecting.
