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Ecology and Development: An Attempt to Synthesize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Christiaan Geerling ,
Henk Breman  and
Eva T. Bérczy
Christiaan Geerling
Affiliation:
Senior Lecturer, Department of Nature Conservation, Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Henk Breman
Affiliation:
Senior Research Officer, Centre for Agro-Biological Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Eva T. Bérczy
Affiliation:
Research Fellow, Department of Nature Conservation, Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
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Extract

In the context of ‘ecology’ and ‘development’, both these terms are usually ill-defined. Development, a finite process, is nevertheless conceived as sustainable, while ecology is only used in a qualitative way in this context. Development concerns resources—renewable and nonrenewable—both of which are finite in their exploitability. Ecology in land-use concerns the interference of Man as a biological species in ecological processes.

Integration of ‘ecology’ in ‘development’ requires the following steps:

1. Quantify the resources, both renewable and non-renewable, to be developed in terms of carrying capacity and inputs available.

2. Determine the regulating ecological factors in both the natural ecosystem and the land-use system.

3. Assess the interventions needed to counter limiting factors, their effectiveness, and their (side-)effects.

4. Define measures to be taken in such a way that they can be integrated with cultural, social, and economic, data, in order to arrive at a balanced approach to development.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , Autumn 1986 , pp. 211 - 214
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1986

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