sustainable use
Lasting resource management
Sustainable use is the harvesting or consumption of a resource at a rate that allows it to replenish naturally, ensuring availability for future generations.
The concept applies to fisheries, forests, water, and other renewable resources: Sustainable use of the aquifer requires limiting annual withdrawals.
The term often appears in environmental policy and conservation contexts, where it contrasts with exploitation that depletes or destroys.
- ecological balanceStable ecosystem state
- balance of natureEnvironmental forces in equilibrium
- ecosystem preservationProtecting interconnected natural communities
- native speciesOrganisms originating in a region
- catch limitsMaximum allowable harvest amounts
renewable energy · environmental law · circular economy · habitat restoration · carrying capacity · quota systems · stakeholder engagement · climate resilience · ethical consumption · green living · carbon sequestration · forest stewardship · cultural heritage · wildlife corridors · marine reserves · natural resources · land management · equity
sustainable useoverexploitation
Excessive resource depletion
resource depletion · overconsumption · strip mining · overharvesting · overfishing
sustainable useecological degradation
Decline of natural systems
habitat destruction · ecocide · desertification · deforestation · pollution