The challenge of sustainable development

sustainable development

Human populations continue to grow

Humans continue to develop and exploit the earth’s surfaces & oceans

Much of this development conflicts with biodiversity conservation

Sustainable development is economic development that satisfies both present & future needs for resources employment while minimizing the impact on biodiversity & functioning ecosystems

why do we need sustainable development?

• humans will continue to develop; but…

• …unsustainable development cannot continue indefinitely because it destroys or uses up the resources upon which it depends

• CB encourages economic development (ED) but not necessary economic growth (EG)

ED

improvements in the efficiency, organization & distribution of resource use or other economic activity, but not necessarily increases in resource consumption

EG

material increases in the amount of resources used

Ex of Sustainable development (SD)

Investment in Nat Park infrastructure that improves protection of biodiversity while providing opportunities for local communities

Implementation of less destructive logging & fishing practices

social issues are important

all parties must benefit; for example, environmental degradation disproportionately affects the poor

• Higher exposure to pollution & flooding, limited access to resources for adapting to climate change (e.g., insurance) and to healthy food & healthcare

Combination of environmental, economic & social considerations explicit in SD will inevitably lead

to improved quality of life, corporate benefits, and human health in addition to environmental benefits (Derbach & Cheever, 2015)

SD: misuse & overuse

Few businesses or governments are willing to say they are against SD

Many large corporations & policy organizations that they fund, use the notion of SD to “greenwash” their industrial activities, with only limited change in actual practices (in these cases ecosystems & people will both suffer)

• For example, establishing a huge mining complex in the middle of a forest cannot be justifiably called SD just because a small portion is set aside as a park

• Or, building huge houses filled with energy-efficient appliances and cars that boast the latest energy-saving technology but are routinely driven long distances cannot be called SD when the net result is increased energy use

SD at the local level

Often local (e.g., towns, cities) and regional (e.g., states) laws are more strict than national laws, for protection of clean air, water & (less often) for endangered species

Citizens & political leaders feel that they represent the will of the communities they represent

Thus, they set limits to takes and methods of hunting & fishing, harvesting of trees, plants & other resources; enforcement by game wardens & police

local level - examples

Laws also control the way in which we use the land

For example, vehicles are often restricted from habitats & resources that are sensitive to damage, such as birds’ nesting areas, bogs, sand dunes, wildflower patches, and sources of drinking water

Nature reserves, parks & forests protect biodiversity & clean drinking water

Conservationists must be able to connect to the local community to effect change

land trust

• Nonprofit, private organizations are among the leaders in acquiring land for conservation

• A (conservation) land trust is a private, non-profit corporation in the US that acquires land or conservation easements for the purpose of limiting commercial development and preserving open space, natural areas, waterways, and/or productive farms and forests

• In the U.S. >15 million ha of land are protected at the local level by ~1700 land trusts

Conservation easements/covenants:

land owners give up the right to develop, build on, or subdivide their property, typically in exchange for $, or tax benefits

Intended to protect land; however, a large proportion of them do allow some forms of development and other uses

This figure reflects a review of 269 CE documents that spanned 6 U.S. states (Rissman et al. 2015)

Conservation development (Also known as limited development)

Landowner, developer & conservation agency reach a compromise that allows part of the land to be commercially developed, while the remainder is protected by a conservation easement

The success of the development is often due to the enhanced value of the land due to the protection of some part of it

Conservation leasing

Providing payments or tax benefits to private landowners who actively manage their land for biodiversity protection

Examples: restoration, weeding, controlled burning, establishing bird nest boxes & planting native species

Conservation banking

Landowner deliberately preserves an endangered species or protected habitat type such as a wetland, or restores a habitat or creates a new habitat

For example, USFWS evaluates proposals for new conservation banks in the context of unavoidable impacts of proposed projects to listed species

USFWS awards species or habitat credits in exchange for permanently protecting the land & managing it for the species/habitat

Credits can then be purchased by developers in compensation or as an offset for similar habitat that it’s destroying elsewhere

the Muddy Boggy Conservation Bank in Oklahoma

was expanded to 230 Ha in exchange for 522 credits for the Endangered American Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus americanus)

This program assisted Oklahoma industries such as energy development, pipeline construction & transportation projects that might have otherwise been shut down if the endangered species was found on the land

Thus, industry can be relieved of responsibility for how their actions may affect the beetle by purchasing credits that are then used to support the Muddy Boggy Conservation Bank

Conservation services

Landowner is paid for providing specific conservation services

Fledging success for nests of the Sarus & Lesser Adjutant that are protected by villagers in Cambodia versus those that were not

Villagers participating in the program were paid by WCS

The local inhabitants were able to significantly supplement their incomes with payments that provided extra incentives for achieving successful nests (Clements et al. 2013)