Environmental Management: Principles and practice

Human ecology approach to environmental management
Human ecology is the study of relations between humans or society and nature,
through a multidisciplinary approach (Begossi, 1993). An alternative definition is
the study of ecosystems that involve humans (Garlick and Keay, 1970; Hardin, 1985;
Catton, 1994). There has been interest in human ecology since the 1920s or earlier
(Barrows, 1926). The scale of approach may be local to global, and it supports holistic
study (Sargeant, 1974; Steiner and Nauser, 1993).
The best approach?
To a considerable extent the ends are more important than the means; the approach
really doesn’t matter, provided environmental and other goals are attained, and that it
is not done in a draconian manner. Environmental management usually has two choices:
(1) where time and funds are short, the ‘quick-and-dirty’ approach; (2) a more thorough,
slower and usually more expensive approach. The former sacrifices depth of assessment
and reliabilty for speed and cheapness. The latter is often too slow to be practical. The
ideal is a quick, thorough, adaptable and transparent (i.e. the public and other onlookers
can see what is being done) approach—and nothing quite fits that.
Recommended reading
Journals which publish articles on environmental management approaches
Ambio
Environment
Environmental Conservation
Environmental Management
Environmental Progress
Human Ecology
Green Futures
Journal of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management
Journal of Environmental Management
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management
International Journal of Environment and Pollution

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C h a p t e r 1 4
The way ahead
♦ Key challenges and new supports