Sustainability means using resources in a way that meets the needs of people today without reducing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. A sustainable resource is one that is renewed as fast as it is used, so it will not run out.Sustainable management of an ecosystem aims to provide resources for humans (such as timber, fish or grazing land) while maintaining the biodiversity and the long-term health of the ecosystem.For example, timber can be sustainable if trees are replanted or allowed to regrow at the same rate as they are harvested; fish stocks can be sustainable if fish are caught no faster than they can reproduce.Sustainable management must balance three sets of interests:• economic: people need income and resources
• social: the needs of local communities, including jobs, food and culture
• environmental: maintaining biodiversity, habitats and ecosystem servicesHuman populations are growing, and people are demanding more resources, so there is increasing conflict between the need for resources and the need to conserve ecosystems. Sustainable management tries to resolve this conflict, often by involving local people, sharing the benefits of the ecosystem with them, and controlling how and when resources are taken.Example: if a forest can grow 1000 m3 of new timber each year, harvesting up to 1000 m3 per year is sustainable; harvesting 1500 m3 per year would gradually destroy the forest.
• social: the needs of local communities, including jobs, food and culture
• environmental: maintaining biodiversity, habitats and ecosystem servicesHuman populations are growing, and people are demanding more resources, so there is increasing conflict between the need for resources and the need to conserve ecosystems. Sustainable management tries to resolve this conflict, often by involving local people, sharing the benefits of the ecosystem with them, and controlling how and when resources are taken.Example: if a forest can grow 1000 m3 of new timber each year, harvesting up to 1000 m3 per year is sustainable; harvesting 1500 m3 per year would gradually destroy the forest.