This chapter examines the controversial issues of sustainable management of species and habitats. Species can be managed to maintain yield in the long term, but I suggest this may often be achieved at a risk to conservation. Similarly, habitats have been managed by traditional methods to achieve long-term use of many natural resources, but we will examine the validity of these methods as a model for conservation. Sustainability has been defined in a variety of ways. One of the early definitions of sustainable development comes from the World Commission on Sustainable Development, in The Brundtland Report of 1987: ‘Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. Sustainability has been considered for many years by resource managers such as foresters and fisheries officers, who have attempted to harvest in ways which maintain long-term yields. A basic tenet of such managers is the concept of ‘Maximum Sustainable Yield’ (‘MSY’), which we shall examine after considering how sustainability can be recognised.

Is sustainability an illusion?

With so many politicians and resource managers repeating the mantra of ‘sustainable development’ and ‘sustainability’, it would be easy to get the impression that the aim is realistic. But how can sustainability be detected and monitored? Are there proven examples of sustainability? And is sustainability in one sector only at the expense of another? In sum: is sustainability a comfortable illusion created by a lack of information?