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Principles for
Sustainable Resource Management
Central
to achieving our environmental mission is the concept of
sustainability. That is: using resources in a manner that meets our
present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs. To do so, we must foster thriving human
communities rooted in ecological integrity, economic strength, and
social and cultural integration.
Audubon
International’s Principles for Sustainable Resource Management set forth
the ideas and types of activities that Audubon International considers
critical to help us move forward toward more sustainable patterns of
land use and sustainable resource management. They were first developed
by our staff in the 1990s and revised in 2005, based on fifteen years of
working with communities, land managers, owners, partner organizations,
environmental experts, and numerous citizens.
Total
sustainability cannot happen overnight, of course, but must depend on
many small steps, collaborative and individual efforts, and political
and social will. The principles offer guidance for taking those steps
and beginning a journey toward a more sustainable future.
Contents
I. Building a Foundation for Sustainability-
Fundamental Concepts
II. The Principles
Principles for Sustainable Resource Management
Revised February 2005,
Audubon International
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Contact:
Audubon International
46 Rarick Road Selkirk, NY 12158
(518) 767-9051 Fax: (518) 767-9076
I. Building a
Foundation for Sustainability
Biological diversity – defined broadly as the
spectacular diversity of life on Earth – is key to the ultimate health
and survival of humans and our environment. Preserving that diversity
demands that we protect and conserve natural resources, on which all
life depends.
Sustainable resource management,
which includes sustainable development, entails using natural
resources in ways beneficial to human beings, while maintaining their
availability to support biological diversity and continuing human use in
the future. Sustainability can be the hallmark of the coming years –
if we choose to embrace it over current patterns of consumption and
development that pay little heed to the requirements of future
generations of life in all forms.
Audubon International’s view of sustainable
resource management, then, rests on these fundamental concepts:
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Sustainable
resource management strives to ensure that the effects of our
actions now maintain or even enhance, rather than diminish, the
quality of life in our environment for future generations.
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Sustainable
resource management fosters natural resource conservation and
continued proper functioning of healthy ecosystems.
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Sustainable
resource management promotes production, consumption, and waste
management practices that allow us to keep resources available for
use indefinitely.
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Sustainable
resource management requires short-term and long-term
decision-making that aims to protect or enhance watersheds, plants,
wildlife, human life, and our economic and social systems for the
benefit of future generations.
These concepts should be articulated and embraced
by landowners and developers at the inception of any land use
development and adopted by everyone associated with the project. In the
case of development of a community, they should be passed along to all
who will live, work, and play there after it is built.
II. Principles for
Sustainable Resource Management
Audubon
International’s principles form a philosophical foundation by which a
community, as well as organizations, families, and individuals within
it, may work toward a sustainable future. To that end, Audubon
International urges that local and global communities:
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Encourage resource
management practices that have the greatest positive impact on plant
and wildlife species, water, and the ecosystems that sustain life.
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Strive to use
resources that are most easily renewed.
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Strive to eliminate
or reduce the use of resources that are difficult or impossible to
renew.
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Encourage
activities that result in identifying new resources and technologies
and enhance our current resource base in ways that will maximize
positive impacts on the overall quality of life and the environment.
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Encourage human
activities and practices that conserve water and protect or enhance
water quality on a local and global basis.
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Encourage human
activities, practices, and land uses that support ecosystems that
maintain and enhance biodiversity.
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Consider the
geographic and ecological contexts in which our actions take place,
and at the same time strive to manage resources within the natural
limitations and opportunities defined by ecosystems and geographic
boundaries.
These principles are intended to serve, preferably, a community as a
whole as it evolves, providing an educational and philosophical
foundation, as well as a living guide, for all those who work, live, or
recreate in the community. Consequently, in the case of a new community
these principles should be displayed throughout the community as a joint
commitment between those who build it and those who live in it. The
following examples of resource management activities demonstrate how the
principles for sustainable resource management can be applied to current
and future resource management decisions.
Site Specific Assessment
Before land-use changes take place, it is crucial
to understand the characteristics of the site subject to proposed
changes. A comprehensive site survey includes:
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Identifying the
geographic and topographic features and demographics of the area.
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Identifying the
area’s unique ecological and biological resources, to protect and
conserve them.
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Identifying the
area’s physical attributes, such as geology, mineral resources,
hydrology, soil types, wind patterns, and sunshine patterns, to
provide a basis, in conjunction with other site assessment data, for
environmentally sound choices on whether to develop the site, types
of suitable development, suitable power supplies, etc.
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Identifying sites
of archeological, natural, historical, or cultural significance in
the area, to protect and conserve them.
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Identifying land
uses in the vicinity, to provide a basis for assessing compatibility
of proposed changes and uses.
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Specifying the
proposed areas of change and establishing parameters for future
changes beyond those areas.
Habitat Sensitivity
Sustainable resource management entails careful attention to the
wildlife habitat of an area or region. Managing land in a
habitat-sensitive way includes:
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Protecting
ecologically sensitive areas from all degrading impacts.
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Not disturbing
local wildlife populations by degrading food or water sources,
shelter from predators or weather, or breeding habitat.
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Not posing threats
to species directly or indirectly through increased air or water
pollution.
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Avoiding or
minimizing increases of ambient noise levels in the area during and
following changes in land use.
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Providing for
migratory species’ access to habitual routes, food and water
sources, and breeding grounds.
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Maintaining
corridors and greenspace that will allow for the movement of plants
and animals among habitat areas.
Natural Landscaping
Sustainable resource management should emphasize
landscaping with a variety of materials and resources native to an area,
and maintaining them in a natural condition. Natural landscaping
includes:
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Except for social
purpose areas such as agricultural lands, recreational use areas,
and work areas, preserving or enhancing species of vegetation native
to the natural region and, to the extent practical, removing species
of vegetation not native to that region.
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Maximizing the size
and number of natural or naturalized patches within the area and
maximizing the use of natural or naturalized corridors to tie those
patches together.
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Preserving and
adding species to establish a wide variety of plants native to the
region.
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Preserving or
enhancing a variety of different types of habitat, such as forest,
wetland, streamsides, pond margins, and meadows and grasslands.
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Preserving or
enhancing a variety of vertical layers of plants, such as canopy and
understory trees, shrubs, and ground cover.
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Retaining dead
standing trees, fallen trees, logs, and vegetative litter, such as
fallen branches, twigs, and leaves.
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Not using
pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, or irrigation in natural or
naturalized areas, patches, or corridors.
Water Conservation and Water Quality Protection
Water is vital to all life, yet it is one of our most misused,
mismanaged, and misunderstood resources. We make deserts bloom year
round and have expanded populations in area that are running out of
water. Good water conservation and water quality protection techniques
include:
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Using a rainwater
collection or gray water system for watering grounds, flushing
toilets, etc., and otherwise recapturing and reusing water
resources.
-
Minimizing water
usage by monitoring it and by installing low-flow devices.
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Evaluating
sustainable yields for the lowest flow periods of water supply and
designing to accommodate those periods.
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Maximizing use of
native and naturalized plants and turf that are biologically
appropriate for the natural region, to avoid or minimize use of
irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticides.
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Properly designing
and maintaining irrigation systems to use only the minimum water
needed, only where needed.
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Controlling erosion
and runoff.
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Avoiding or
minimizing the use of fertilizers and pesticides, avoiding their use
entirely near water bodies, and storing, handling, and disposing of
them in ways that will not result in contamination to water bodies.
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Using organic
fertilizers, where fertilization is necessary.
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Avoiding direct
drainage to water from areas where fertilizers or pesticides are
used, and maintaining vegetative buffer strips along the margins of
water bodies to filter fertilizers, pesticides, other contaminants,
and sediments.
Waste Management
The first goal of waste management should be not to generate waste. We
must rethink how we purchase and consume goods, to reduce waste
generation as much as possible in the first place. To the extent that
waste is generated, more sustainable waste management measures include:
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Recycling or
reusing solid or liquid wastes, including hazardous wastes, whenever
possible.
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Continually
monitoring and assessing how much solid and liquid wastes are being
generated, with a view to further reduction of generation.
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Composting all
organic wastes.
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Disposing of
non-recyclable wastes in an environmentally sensitive manner.
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Periodically
reviewing waste reduction strategies and recycling methods used.
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Exploring low
capital, low maintenance alternatives for wastewater treatment
systems.
Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources
Nothing short of weaning ourselves from fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural
gas) and nuclear power will be sustainable. In any event, sustainable
energy strategies include:
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Minimizing energy
consumption through conservation and use of energy efficient
technologies in all sectors of the economy, including industry,
agriculture, service provision, commercial buildings and residences,
and transportation.
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Emphasizing use of:
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Photovoltaic
solar power.
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Wind power.
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Geothermal
power.
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Wave and tide
generated power.
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Hydro-electric
power, particularly small-scale or low-head, run-of-the-river
power at existing dams.
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Cleaner burning
non-fossil, plant-derived fuels, such as ethanol.
Transportation
Measures to promote more sustainable resource management in
transportation include:
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Expanding the
availability of public transportation in developed areas.
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Making
energy-efficient public transportation available in development of
new urban and suburban areas.
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Using available
public transportation.
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Encouraging
low-impact transportation by providing sidewalks, walking trails,
and bicycle paths.
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Using available
sidewalks, walking trails, and bicycle paths instead of powered
vehicles.
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Reducing
cross-country transportation of goods by diversifying local sources.
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Developing
infrastructure changes that support the use of more energy-efficient
and cleaner burning fuel technologies in vehicles (such as electric
battery charging stations, compressed natural gas refueling
stations).
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Deploying more
energy-efficient and cleaner burning fuel technologies (such as
electric, hybrid electric, and compressed natural gas) in public
transportation systems, government and private fleets of trucks and
automobiles, and individual private vehicles.
Greenspace and Corridors
Urban parks, forested zones, native grassland areas, and stream
corridors reaching into urbanized areas are important elements of
sustainability. In this respect, sustainable resource management
includes:
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Identifying and
preserving greenspaces and corridors of high wildlife habitat and
water quality value within cities and other communities.
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Maintaining
corridors that connect areas and allowing for wildlife movement
through and across property boundaries and between adjacent areas.
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Providing access to
appropriate greenspaces for educational and recreational
experiences.
Agriculture
Sustainable resource management in agriculture includes:
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Protecting prime
agricultural production areas.
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Promoting regional
food self-sufficiency to the extent possible.
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Improving the
efficiency of low input farming methods.
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Improving
irrigation and drainage systems to minimize water use and protect
water quality.
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Integrating
livestock management with food crop and vegetative management to
improve soil fertility.
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Encouraging the use
of integrated pest management (IPM) practices at all farms and
agriculture facilities.
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Promoting the use
of greenhouse farming.
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Promoting the use
of aquaculture.
Building Design
Improved design of individual buildings is essential for sustainable
resource management. Everything from lighting to composting food scraps
must be considered. Sustainability in building design includes:
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Incorporating
energy efficient design approaches for:
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Heating/cooling.
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Ventilation.
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Building
materials.
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Appliances.
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Lighting.
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Cooking.
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Water use.
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Space.
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Efficient waste
handling and recycling programs.
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Applying
landscaping practices that minimize maintenance, such as employing
native or naturalized plants.
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Using building
materials that will not become hazardous waste or impossible to
dispose of in an environmentally safe manner at the ends of their
useful lives.
Community Design
Beyond the specific design of a structure, there is the issue of how
proper design and planning put together an entire sustainable community.
Where does the food come from? Where do people work and play? How are
the sustainable patterns of behavior applied at the broader level of the
community as a whole? Sustainable resource management in community
design, whether development of an entirely new one or planned expansion
of an existing one, includes:
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Protecting the area’s sustainable resources.
·
Encouraging low impact transportation, like walking, bicycling,
etc.
·
Working with the contours of the land to avoid excessive mechanical
land and soil movement, such as blasting and filling.
·
Clustering structures, to facilitate maximizing open space.
·
To the greatest extent possible, clustering residences and
commercial facilities necessary to support them, such as groceries and
shops, within distances where they are reasonably accessible to each
other by low impact transportation, like walking or bicycling.
·
Providing recycling and composting centers; and encouraging
provision of exchange [and reuse stations, for items such as used
clothing, appliances, and house wares.
·
Providing infrastructure, such as charging or refueling stations,
for forms of transportation that rely on alternative sources of energy.
·
Providing a multi-purpose community / environmental education
center.
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Minimizing the use of impermeable surfaces for drives and parking
lots.
·
Continually looking for and taking advantage of opportunities to
“re-claim” previously degraded environments.
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