Abstract
Globally, fisheries and forestry have been characterised by substantial ecological and economic problems. Both sectors have become notorious for depleting the stocks on which they depend, eroding the value of harvested natural resources over time and having significant negative ‘by-catch’ impacts on non-target natural resources. Problems of resource overuse and potential ecosystem collapse inherently derive from poor decisions influenced by those with undue or excessive economic, political and labour market power. Solutions to problems of unsustainability of resource management will need to engage with these economic drivers and beneficiaries, and require strategies including better and more independent assessments of the status and condition of resources. Deep-seated problems caused by resource over-commitment need more robust approaches to resource assessment that (1) better account for uncertainty (including uncertainty resulting from stock losses due to disturbance), (2) avoid ratchet effects and (3) provide appropriate ecological parameters for resource harvest. The United Nations framework for environmental and economic accounting methods can help assess the economic and other contributions of different resource-based industries and inform decisions about trade-offs between competing interests. Finally, there is value in examining successful and unsuccessful industry restructuring, in which decisions to transition away from demonstrably unsustainable resource industries have been made.
JEL Codes: Q3
References
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Author biography
David Lindenmayer AO is an Australian ecologist at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, in the Australian National University College of Medicine, Biology and Environment. He is a widely published authority, with over 625 peer-reviewed scientific papers and 41 books in fields, including environmental and forestry management, wildlife and habitat management, conservation and biodiversity, natural resource management and ecological applications. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2008, and other awards include the Eureka Science Prize, the Order of Australia for ‘distinguished service to conservation and the environment in the field of landscape ecology, to tertiary education, and to professional organisations’, and an Australian Research Council Laureate.
