Abstract
Since the late 1980s, the idea of sustainable development has been gaining widespread recognition as a guiding framework for policies on development and the environment. However, the concept of sustainable development has received a number of criticisms, including its over-emphasis on meeting human needs through economic growth, as well as its failure to recognize dynamic human–environment interactions. In response to these shortfalls, the concepts of resilience and adaptive governance have emerged as alternative perspectives for pursuing sustainable development. Resilience in social-ecological systems emphasizes the capacity of coupled human–environment systems to deal with change, while continuing to develop. Adaptive governance relies on diverse and nested institutional mechanisms for connecting actors across multiple scales to manage conflicts and uncertainties in ecosystem management processes. However, the ethical dimensions of resilience and adaptive governance have not received enough attention. A promising ethical perspective for guiding policies on human–environment interactions is the philosophy of deep ecology, which highlights the need for recognition of the intrinsic values of all living things, as well as the nurturing of ecological and cultural diversity. In this paper, I argue that an integration of the principles of deep ecology and adaptive governance provides a complementary set of ethical principles and institutional attributes that offers better prospects for pursuing sustainable development in the era of the Anthropocene. The implications of this integrative agenda include: the adoption of a holistic conception of dynamic human–environment interactions; the recognition of diverse knowledge systems through an anti-reductionist approach to knowledge; the promotion of long term sustainability through respect for ecological and cultural diversity; and embracing decentralization and local autonomy. I further illustrate this integrative agenda using the management of protected areas as a case study.
Highlights
In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the emergence of the era of the Anthropocene in which humanity has acquired the capacity to mold the natural environment, making human activity a major driver of global environmental change, as opposed to the era in which the environmental impacts of pre-industrial societies had a relatively benign influence on earth system processes [1,2,3]
In response to the social and ecological threats presented by climate change and other grand sustainability challenges, in recent years there has been a turn toward resilience and adaptive governance of social-ecological systems as more useful frameworks
In the absence of such ethical principles, there is the risk that the implementation of adaptive governance and other resilience-based management approaches could be co-opted for the pursuit of political agendas that perpetuate unjust and unsustainable conditions
Summary
There has been growing recognition of the emergence of the era of the Anthropocene in which humanity has acquired the capacity to mold the natural environment, making human activity a major driver of global environmental change, as opposed to the era in which the environmental impacts of pre-industrial societies had a relatively benign influence on earth system processes [1,2,3]. While the sustainable development concept has received broad-based support over the years, it has received sustained criticisms These include a lack of conceptual clarity; the separation of social, ecological and economic components; inadequate recognition of the dynamic interactions between humans and nature; the lack of clear ethical foundations; an over-emphasis on human needs; and inadequate consideration of the diversity of cultures and needs [12,17,20,21,22]. I argue that the integration of deep ecology and adaptive governance of complex social-ecological systems provides a coherent set of institutional attributes and ethical considerations, which holds promise for promoting sustainable development in the era of the Anthropocene. I illustrate this argument using the management of protected areas
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