Title
The limits to caring: Sustainable living and the loss of biodiversity
Author(s)
Robinson J.G.
Published
1993
Publisher
Conservation Biology
Abstract
Caring for the Earth, a IUGN/UNEP/WWF document, has embraced a purely utilitarian perspective: it considers the conservation and development of natural resources to be the same process. In this analysis it is argued that the goal of creating the sustainable society, as defined in Caring for the Earth, is an unattainable utopia, and that the mechanisms proposed to attain this goal will lead irrevocably to the loss of biological diversity. The author considers the history of the concept of sustainable development, and then documents the constraints on sustainable use of natural resources. Sustainable use only occurs when both human needs are met and the losses of biodiversity and environmental degradation are acceptable. These conditions are not always met when natural resources are used, and this article looks at the fundamental contradictions between resource potential and human needs. It concludes by emphasizing that while sustainable use is a powerful approach to conservation, it is not the only one, and the conservation of many species and biological communities also requires a preservationist approach. -from Author
Keywords
biodiversity; biodiversity conservation; biodiversity loss; Caring for the Earth; conservation; conservation and development; conservation strategy; resource conservation; resources use; sustainable development; theoretical studies
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