The Future of Sustainability: Have Your Say!

Week Two - “Human Wellbeing and Sustainability”
Comment / Comentario / Commentaire

Ke Chung Kim, Penn State University, USA

Moderating team: Ke Chung Kim argues that as people in impoverished societies and regions struggle to meet daily life-support needs and improve their standard of living, efforts in advancing sustainability must focus on improvements in basic human rights; recognition of the value of “backyard biodiversity” that provides for present and future generations; and public education and training of local biodiversity scientists at the grassroots.

Ke Chung Kim afirma que mientras sigan existiendo millones de personas pobres que luchan por sobrevivir a diario, los esfuerzos en la sostenibilidad deberían enfocarse: en reconocimiento de los derechos humanos fundamentales,el reconocimiento del valor de la “biodiversidad local” que es el susstento de las generaciones presentes y futuras, la educación y el entrenamiento de científicos locales.

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It's refreshing to read all these wonderful ideas and practical solutions to the issue of human sustainability. Dr. Khosla's statement provides a realistic basis upon which I would like to share my thoughts below:

Definition of terms (Webster's II dictionary): 1) conservation: controlled use and systematic protection of natural resources; and 2) development: the act of developing or the state of being developed which is the realization of the potentialities of (growth, expansion, progress); and 3) sustainability (MEA 1006): a characteristic or state whereby the needs of the present and local populations can be met without compromising the ability of future generations or populations in other location to meet their needs. As Dr. Kohsla pointed out in the fourth paragraph, many important concepts and their definitions are often misunderstood and misused which lead to considerable confusion in communication.

Sustainability, I mean human sustainability, that is relative in the use of term and in practice refers to in essence the capacity of a cultural or political unit to maintain the basic human rights in freedom and peace with economic and environmental security for daily lives at the grassroots without destroying its backyard biodiversity that is basic natural resource and capital and healthy ecosystem processes that provide ecological services and products to for the future generations. In other words, we must meet the daily basic needs of people at the grassroots without harming the core of basic natural resources (biodiversity) and the dynamics of ecosystem services in local environment for tomorrow. This cannot be accomplished by grandiose global plan alone but the people in local environs must be enlightened through public education with a cadre of training biodiversity workers and its backyard biodiversity be explored and documented for proper conservation of these resources toward sustainable development.

As people in impoverished societies and regions struggle to meet daily life-support needs with aspiration of standard economic life in developed countries, our efforts on sustainability must focus on improving their basic human rights (defined by the 1992 Rio Convention) based on the resources of backyard biodiversity and environmental reality at the grassroots with influx of extramural aids for public education and training of locals for exploration, documentation, and conservation of natural resources (biodiversity). All these points Dr. Koshla made come down to practical, sustainable conservation of backyard biodiversity and ecosystem management for sustainable development:

1) provision of economic incentives for exploration, documentation and conservation of backyard biodiversity with tradable enterprises;

2) maximal application of what local environment and backyard biodiversity could offer in terms of conservation and ecosystem management;

3) IUCN should focus on the enlightenment of local environmental and sustainability education and practical application of backyard biodiversity for economic well-being.