Using resources sustainably
Here is where every thread of this course comes together. "Sustainable" may be the most-used and least-defined word in environmental science — yet the people who have practised it longest did so on this very continent, for tens of thousands of years, long before anyone coined the term. This final chapter asks what sustainability really means, what pushes against it, how the Earth\'s longest custodians have managed Country, and how — drawing on the whole course — humans can keep this planet liveable. The planet, after all, does not need saving. We do.
The interactive book above is the lesson. What follows is a plain recap you can revise from, plus the sources and how this maps to the syllabus.
Defining sustainability
Sustainability has several legitimate definitions: the Brundtland one (meeting present needs without compromising future generations — intergenerational equity); the ecological one (living within the Earth\'s limits); and the three pillars (environment, society, economy in balance). A deeper question is whether some natural capital is irreplaceable. Being clear which definition you use is the start of arguing about it scientifically.
The pressures
Three activities push past limits: overharvesting (harvest > regrowth → collapse), water pollution (including eutrophication and algal blooms), and habitat removal (the leading cause of biodiversity loss; Australia has very high clearing and extinction rates). Each breaks the mechanism that made a resource renewable.
The longest sustainable managers
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples — over 250 language groups, diverse and place-specific — have cared for this continent for tens of thousands of years. Caring for Country frames resources as custodial responsibility; practices include cultural burning, seasonal harvest and ancient aquaculture (Budj Bim). It continues through ranger programs, Indigenous Protected Areas, engagement with land councils and councils, and joint park management (Kakadu, Uluru–Kata Tjuta) — community-led and benefiting communities.
Initiative, and the whole course
A community sustainability initiative (Landcare, repair café, restoration, ranger partnership) is evaluated by which pressure it addresses, which definition it serves, its footprint and reach, and its community benefit. And the course\'s closing answer to how can humans manage resources sustainably? is a way of thinking, not a single fix — understand the systems, measure the footprint, waste less, choose a clear definition, ease the pressures, learn from the longest custodians, and act. From deep time, the planet endures; the life-supporting web that suits us is what is fragile.
For HSC students
This powerbook covers the Sustainability thread of Module 8 (Resource Management), framed by the inquiry question how can humans manage the Earth\'s natural resources sustainably? Working through it, you should be able to:
- investigate different definitions of sustainability and the rationales that underpin them;
- investigate human activities that affect sustainability — overharvesting, water pollution and habitat removal or destruction;
- investigate the processes used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as sustainable resource managers — cultural traditions preserving Country and Place, ongoing engagement with land councils, national parks and councils, and legislation and actions protecting significant areas;
- research and present information about a sustainability initiative in your community.
This is the final chapter of the course; the closing section draws the whole of Earth and Environmental Science together. Explanations here are original and are a study aid, not a copy of the syllabus.
Sources
- The Brundtland Report, "Our Common Future" (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) — the classic definition of sustainable development.
- Australia\'s State of the Environment reports — land clearing, biodiversity loss, water quality and overharvesting pressures.
- UNESCO World Heritage and Gunditjmara sources on the Budj Bim cultural landscape and its ancient aquaculture.
- Australian Government programs — Indigenous ranger programs, Indigenous Protected Areas, and the joint management of Kakadu and Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Parks.
- Research on eutrophication and water pollution in systems such as the Murray–Darling Basin and Great Barrier Reef catchments.
- NSW NESA Earth and Environmental Science Stage 6 Syllabus (2017) — used only to scope the Module 8 content; explanations above are original.
The course ends not with an answer to memorise but with a way of seeing: a 4.6-billion-year-old planet, our single brief moment on it, and the quiet task of leaving it liveable for whoever comes next. That is what Earth and Environmental Science was for.