1.4 Sustainability

Question 1

Sustainability

Answer 1

The use and management of resources that alows for their full replacement and the recovery of ecosystems affected by their extraction

Question 2

Natural capital

Answer 2

Resources that produce a sustainable natural income of goods and services

Question 3

Difference between goods and services

Answer 3

Goods are measurable physical resources that are monetized

Services are harder to measure directly and aren’t monetized

Question 4

Examples of goods

Answer 4

timber, agricultural crops, fisheries, soil nutrients

Question 5

Examples of services

Answer 5

flood and erosion protection, water replenishment

Question 6

How is biodiversity an indicator of sustainability?

Answer 6

Greater biodiversity = greater ecosystem stability.This means more resilience, which is sustainable

Question 7

How is pollution an indicator of sustainability?

Answer 7

Less pollution means a lower impact on the environment

Question 8

How is human population an indicator of sustainability?

Answer 8

An increasing human population increases pressure on the environment

Question 9

How are plant and animal populations an indicator of sustainability?

Answer 9

Increasing plant and animal populations increasing ecosystem stability. There will be more energy and nutrient pathways

Question 10

How is climate an indicator of sustainability

Answer 10

Stable greenhouse levels = stable temperatures

Question 11

What is sustainable development?

Answer 11

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Question 12

What is a Millenium Ecosystem Assessment?

Answer 12

A research programme focusing on how ecosystems have changed in the last decades and predicting changes that might happen

Question 12

What is a Millenium Ecosystem Assessment?

Answer 12

A research programme focusing on how ecosystems have changed in the last decades and predicting changes that might happen

Question 13

According to the 2005 report, what % of world ecosystems have been degraded?

Answer 13

60%

Question 14

What % of fish stock have been overharvested?

Answer 14

25%

Question 15

What % of mangroves have been destroyed since 1980?

Answer 15

35%

Question 16

What else did MAs look at?

Answer 16

The consequences of ecosystem change for human wellbeing
How to implement conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems

Question 17

What is an Environmental Impact Assessment?

Answer 17

A report prepared before a development project that will change the way land is used

Question 18

Examples of projects that use EIAs?

Answer 18

-Building power stations
-Building dams and reservoirs
- Building makor road networks

Question 19

What does an EIA assess?

Answer 19

The environmental, economic and social impacts of the project as well as its advantages and disadvantages

Question 20

EIA step 1

Answer 20

Screening: Determining whether an EIA is needed at all

Question 21

EIA step 2:

Answer 21

Scoping: deciding which impacts need to be assessed

Question 22

EIA step 3

Answer 22

Baseline study: Collecting data on the current environmental, social and economic state of the area

Question 23

EIA step 4

Answer 23

Impact assessment: what are the consequences of the development

Question 24

EIA step 5

Answer 24

Mitigation: how can we reduce or prevent the consequences? Alternatives?

Question 25

EIA step 6

Answer 25

Monitoring: monitor environmental conditions, which may be constantly changing as the project continues

Question 26

EIA step 7

Answer 26

Assessment of project impacts

Question 27

Non technical summary in EIA report

Answer 27

Summarise report it in a way that non-specialists can understand, e.g. for the locals , the general public

Question 28

Disadvantages of EIAs

Answer 28

1. Lack of standard practice or training for practitioners 2. Hard for them to identiy and include indirect impacts 3. Predicitons may be innacurate in the long term as natural systems are complex 4. Baseline study may be incomplete due to lack of data, and EIA is limited by quality of baseline study 5.In some countries the advice of the EIAs are ignored or second place to economic development

Question 29

Advantages of EIAs

Answer 29

1. Changes in the development plan can avoid negative environmental impacts 2. You can learn from the experience of similar projects 3. Improving the development plan outweighs the uncertainty of EIAs

Question 30

What is an Ecological footprint?

Answer 30

The area of land and water needed to sustainably provide all the resources at the rate at which a population is consuming them - It is a model

Question 31

When does an EF indicate unsustainability?

Answer 31

When the EF is greater than the area available to the population

Question 32

Describe carbon sequestration as an EF component

Answer 32

Measuring amount of forest than can sequester the CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning

Question 33

Describe cropland as an EF component

Answer 33

The amount of land needed to provide food for human consumption, including animal feed and commercial crops

Question 34

Describe grazing land as an EF component

Answer 34

The amount of grazing land

Question 35

Describe forests as an EF component

Answer 35

The amount of forest needed to supply timber products, pulp and fuelwood

Question 36

Describe built up land as an EF component

Answer 36

The amount of land covered by human infrastructure

Question 37

What is an ecological overshoot?

Answer 37

When the current population has used up its resources and starts to use the resources of future generations

Question 38

What is an ecological overshoot?

Answer 38

When the current population has used up its resources and starts to use the resources of future generations

Question 39

Tragedy of the commons

Answer 39

When individuals act based on their own needs in ways contrary to the interests of the larger community, depleting a shared resource

Question 40

Factors resulting in a large ecological footprint

Answer 40

- Fossil fuel reliance - Meat rich diets - Increased technology use - High food consumprion

Question 41

How can we reduce our ecological footprint?

Answer 41

- Reduce population - More efficienct resource use - Reduced resource consumption - Reuse, recycle