Sustainable dryland management: an ecological and economic imperative

摘要

Sustainable land use is a keystone of sustainable development(SD)of drylands the world over.SD is a concept that people know about but opinions differ as to what it means in concrete terms.The key question is: “What do we want to maintain,for what purpose and for whom”? Many possibilities exist.These are elaborated in this paper as is some examination of the relationship between SD and improved land use practices.Sustainability of land use systems should be a high priority in all dryland regions because agriculture(including animal husbandry)is the cornerstone of the economic health and well-being of all.The meaning of sustainability presents problems,its meaning “in theory” is commonly intuited but “in practice” it is seldom really explained or understood.Likewise,there are the on-going responses to periodic changes in population density,weather patterns,competing land uses,alternative economic uses,and natural condition of resource base for each rangeland site.Perhaps a more appropriate goal is to strive for “more adaptable and sustainable ways of living for the dryland societies”.Maintaining the productive quality of land resources for continued future use is one of the most important challenges directly confronting the rural population in drylands but the problems also impact on the wider society(both rural and urban)of all these countries.The intent of this paper is to identify which players,policies and procedures can best contribute to a more sustainable way of living of the rural societies and ensure that land is used in way that will allow future generations to enjoy the benefit stream that can flow from land that is used in a sustainable way.This gives rise to the concept of intergenerational equity and necessarily includes considerations about land stewardship.