Strategic environmental management: time for a new approach

Attempting to manage the environment as a whole, even from just a scientific standpoint, is not easy. The sheer size and scale can be daunting. It is difficult even to encompass the many facets involved. This short paper therefore attempts to tackle the problem by describing a framework approach which encompasses how one might assess the actual state of the environment at any one time; characterise the ever-changing pressures placed upon it; the manner by which the resultant problems need to be addressed; and thus what sort of responses are required. No system or framework is ever likely to be fully adequate, but some form of framework is essential in order to deliver a more sustainable approach to environmental management than has so far been achieved.