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6 - Planning and the natural environment
- from Part II - Key Issues
- Susan Thompson, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Paul Maginn, University of Western Australia, Perth
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- Book:
- Planning Australia
- Published online:
- 05 June 2012
- Print publication:
- 17 February 2012, pp 127-154
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- Chapter
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Summary
Key terms: natural environment; human impacts; environmental planning; resource; natural resource management; environmental management; sustainability; ecologically sustainable development; sustainable cities; ecosystem; ecological community; environmental impact assessment; climate change; environmental indicator; SoE reporting; bioregion; bioregional planning; biodiversity; Murray-Darling Basin.
This chapter focuses on the relationship between the natural environment and the biophysical impacts of human activity. Such human activity includes both urban settlements and broader land uses, which together constitute the ‘built environment’. The chapter’s primary concerns, therefore, are with the interaction between the natural and built environments and particularly with pertinent aspects of current environmental planning and natural resource and environmental management in Australia.
The interrelationships between human land use (particularly urbanisation), planning and the sustainable management of environmental systems have led to calls for meaningful remedial and proactive responses by governments, businesses and individuals, as well as concerns about long-term sustainability. These interrelationships are analysed in relation to the following topics:
fundamental concepts
environmental and resource management tools
principles for assessing human impacts on the environment
principles of ecologically sustainable development (ESD)
climate change
environmental indicators and state of the environment (SoE) reporting
planning for biodiversity
bioregional planning and integrated approaches to resource and environmental management (such as catchment management).