Achieving the sustainable use of species and ecosystems

Abstract

Sustainable use of species and ecosystems has been achieved in the past by tribal cultures in which people have become intimately familiar with the natural environments that they occupy. Sustainable use is still achieved most readily by local people who have time and opportunity to develop a detailed knowledge of the land that they occupy. The ecodevelopment model; originally advanced by UNEP, aims toward an ecologically sustainable form of development through which self-reliant local communities meet their basic needs. Today, however, most rural inhabitants rarely have the culturally transmitted knowledge needed for them to achieve an economy which both satisfies their basic needs and enables them to perpetuate biotic diversity and achieve sustainability. New advances in computer and communication technology now open the possibility for local communities to combine familiarity with their local environments and a global awareness of ecological reality.