Agriculture, environment and sustainability: Notions of sustainability

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Agriculture, environment and sustainability
Notions of sustainability
Objectives of session

• to discuss the concept of sustainability
• to examine the notion of sustainable land use
• to outline the issues associated with managing
  for sustainable futures

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Module details are available on the module
blackboard page www.bb.rdg.ac.uk/ Supporting
website designed within the Dept Environmental
Challenges in Farm Management www.ecifm.rdg.ac.uk
And advertising the Guidance for student Projects
website Providing support of dissertations http//b
io.ltsn.ac.uk/hosted/GSP
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Write down the first three issues/problems/concern
s when you think about or are confronted with the
term sustainable development Do not copy from
your neighbour!! Write each on a separate
post-it!
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Sustainable a textbook definition The word
sustainable appears to originate from the French
verb soutenir, meaning to hold up or
support What are we trying to sustain and how do
we decide what to sustain? Some systems are
sustainable but undesirable What temporal and
spatial scales do we attach to sustainability? Eve
n if a system is deemed to be sustainable how
do we manage it so that it continues to be so?
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Some Definitions of sustainability.
There is no consensus on the "definition of
sustainability" but the underlying tenet of the
Brundtland definition (WECD 1987) of sustainable
development that "meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs" is
representative of much of the thinking on
sustainability and is taken as a basis for this
module World Commission on Environment and
Development (1987) Our Common Future. Oxford
University Press .a sustainable system is one
that can evolve indefinitely toward greater human
utility, greater efficiency of resource use and
a balance with the environment which is
favourable to humans and most other
species (Harwood 1989) .exploration into a
tangled conceptual jungle where watchful eyes
lurk at every bend (O'Riordan
1985)
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Giampietro et al 1992 make the following comment
with respect to some forms of land use "He/she
the land user is acting like a truck driver who
is short of cash and sells pieces of his truck to
improve his income but who will soon no longer
make a living out of being a trucker of goods"
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Doing things today in a manner which we/I believe
will preserve the options available for future
generationsJPs working definition based roughly
on Brundtland definition Ask the person next to
you if they purposely do (or dont do) anything
in life because they feel it contributes (in
however smaller way) to sustainability. No more
than three things.
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• All JP can think of.
• Whenever possible I take the train on business
• Just started to dig up some of lawn to produce
  food
• Our family has just one economical car
• Try to recycle although may not be economically
  sustainable
• Generally try to be energy conserving

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A BRIEF HISTORY IMPACTING ON THE SUSTAINABILITY
(LAND) DEBATE

• 1970's Oil crisis in developed world
• 1970's Forrester and Meadows "World Dynamics
  Model" predicted difficulties ahead
• The Brant Commission The North South Divide
  (1978-79)
• 1980's Rapid expansion of developed economies,
  widening of the North South divide, The Bruntland
  Commission,
• 1990's Rio Convention, Agenda 21, NFFO's, CAP
  reforms
• 2000/2001 Fuel blockades, FMD, rural crisis
• Pop reaches 6bn
• 2002 Joburg, 2003 War with Iraq

• Early 1900's some people were already questioning
  what was termed "industrial agriculture"
• Concerns in America about soil degradation The
  Dust Bowl of the 1930's in the American plains
• 1950's, 1960's a period of rapid mechanisation
  and increase in productivity
• 1960's worries about chemicals, The book "Silent
  Spring" seen by many as the work of a crackpot
• The green revolution increasing output of mainly
  rice and wheat in Asia

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Main pressures relating to the sustainability of
land use today

• 1. The projected growth in world population and
  demand for food, fuel and fibre
• 2. The impact of agriculture on soils, water and
  air (erosion, degradation, pollution)
• 3. Continued increase in use of non renewable
  resources in production, (fossil fuels,
  phosphate, potash)
• 4. Social and cultural aspects of agricultural
  change (depopulation, loss of landscape and
  amenity)

• 5. Depletion of biodiversity (monocropping, loss
  of habitats, widespread use of pesticides)
• 6. The impact of climatic change on agriculture
  and vicevera
• 7. Global markets, falling commodity prices and
  changes in support mechanisms

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So what can we say about the concept of
sustainability in practical terms?

• Popular- few people would openly advocate a
  concept of unsustainability
• Involves thinking about the future- i.e. it has
  temporal characteristics
• Systems interactions make planning in a
  sustainable manner difficult
• Need to deliver strategies for assessing the
  (degree of) sustainability of a system

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In groups of four put your post-its from earlier
up on the wall (thus you should have 12). Come to
a consensus about the importance of each and
arrange in a triangle with the most important at
the top!
Increasing importance
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For your top post-it discuss the following How
does it relate to sustainability What is/are
government(s) doing to encourage sustainable
development? What more do we think the government
should do to enhance sustainable development?
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For next time please read Bjorn Lomborg paper
the truth about the environment Papers relating
to the Joburg summit Make short notes from the
ECIFM website www.ecifm.rdg.ac.uk Subject
5 Agricultural threats,Climate change and
agriculture, Change in habitats, Change in
species