Abstract
The inhomogeneous distribution of natural resources over the world induced adaptation of natural populations or communities to different local situations and resulted in high biological diversity organised in naturally sustainable ecosystems. Humans originally followed this adaptation, leading to high cultural diversity, but eventually diverted from sustainability by shifting resources in ever larger quantities over ever greater distances to achieve continuous prosperity. The concept of sustainability has been introduced to rectify this worsening situation. It is shown that both from its history and practicability, a sutainable use of resources, let alone sustainable development, does not appear to offer ready solutions for the world's ecological problems. However, the great appeal and attention which the concept has aroused might initiate a general change in politics and economics with regard to natural resource use. -from English summary
Translated title of the contribution | Is "sustainability' an ecologically sound concept? |
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Original language | German |
Pages (from-to) | 7-17 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fur Okologie |
Volume | 23 |
State | Published - 1993 |