State of the Environment Report 2007
The 1998 State of the Environment Report documented the progress of the natural resource sectors towards achieving ecologically sustainable development. However, the broad concept of sustainability has significantly evolved since then and Western Australia now has a State Sustainability Strategy. In the words of the strategy, sustainability is an aspirational goal of 'meeting the needs of current and future generations through an integration of environmental protection, social advancement and economic prosperity' (Government of Western Australia, 2003a, p. 24).
Although sustainability is a relatively new concept, it has been widely embraced by many nations, states, businesses and communities as a powerful means of realising a better future. This concept requires us to challenge the normal way of doing things and to look for opportunities that improve the environment, society and economy without accepting trade-offs. The concept of sustainability is sometimes described in business decision making as the 'triple bottom line' of economic development, environmental integrity and social and cultural wellbeing. True sustainability, however, is a much broader concept and should be expressed through the unification of the three bottom lines, when all are considered as one. 'Sustainable development' is also a term often used to describe the application of sustainability principles to development projects. Again, the concept of sustainability is broader than just being considered in relation to development.
The Towards Sustainability theme focuses primarily on the 'environmental integrity' component of sustainability. Environmental integrity aims to ensure that our State's '... natural resources are conserved, managed, protected and used sustainably for the common good' (Government of Western Australia, 2003a, p. 108). Other components of sustainability, notably the social and economic aspects, have not been addressed in detail as it falls outside the scope of this report - although many inter-linkages have been recognised herein.
Each major natural resource sector has reported its progress towards managing, conserving, protecting and/or using natural resources in a sustainable manner:
The sectors covered in 'Towards Sustainability' are agriculture, conservation, energy, fisheries, mining and petroleum, pastoralism, tourism, water supply and wood production. Each report represents a sector-wide collaboration with input from government agencies, industry, business, universities, research institutions and special interest groups (where appropriate). Therefore, it should be noted that the content of the Towards Sustainability chapter does not necessarily reflect the views of the Environmental Protection Authority. The EPA has used this information to assess each sector's environmental performance and integration of sustainability (see 'Overview').
