8: Explain the concept of sustainable development and its importance for the conservation natural resources.

Human are dependent for their survival on the earth’s resources, and these take two forms: renewable and non-renewable. Renewable resources, as the name suggest, can be replaced. They are things which grow, and are materials based on plants or animals, e.g. tree and fish. They are not, however, produced in limitless quantities and their supply is ultimately exhausted if the rate at which they are removed exceeds that at which they have been produced. Renewable resources have a sustainable yield. This means that the amount removed is equal to, or less than, the rate of production. If the trees in a forest may be felled each year without the forest becoming smaller. A sustainable yield can be taken indefinitely. In order to meets the present need without compromising the needs for a good quality of life in our future generations.

To achieve sustainability, human should minimize their impact on the environment during their activities, which include agriculture, industrialization. Thus, sustainable development is utmost important for the implementation of the conservation natural resources.

As for the needs of the growing human population, residential places should grow upwards rather than outwards. This results in an increase in population density and spaces are saved for other purposes. This also allows energy to be ulitized more efficiently, such as the use of mass transport instead of private vehicles. For the biodiversity, wetlands, meadows, marshes and mangroves are sources of beauty. They provide habitats for wildlife, keep air fresh, remove pollutants and provide flood control. The protection of these habitats is important to the maintenance of biodiversity. In fact, the conflicts between development and environmental protection are challenging most governments. As natural areas should be protected, other wise serious pollution problems will be resulted. For example, urban development should be avoided in valleys. It is because the topsoil in valleys is fertile and suitable for agricultural uses and it is vulnerable to erosion. There, cautious development planning can help to protect the environment. At the same time, plantation can also improve air quality, moderate the climate, stabilize the soil, and restore degrading lands. Trees also provide habitats for wildlife. The natural resources of timber can also be generated for our future use.

However, conservation biologists and forester are calling for the attention of governments and people towards the conservation of timber through forest management, afforestation and reduction in consumption.