Euroamerican traditions of utilitarian and preservationist resource management both seek to manage people in a human-dominated landscape within which parcels are set off as “natural.” We have seen that resource managers are becoming increasingly aware of political, ecological, and ethical reasons for including the activities of people explicitly in management plans, however. A number of innovative strategies for doing this have emerged within the past two decades.

In Chapter 10 we examined one type of economic conservation incentive, the debt-for-nature swap. In such an arrangement, parties from the developed world pay a developing country (by getting its debt reduced) to protect lands from exploitation. This strategy of having outsiders with a stake in resource preservation pay to support limits on resource use has been successful in some instances, but long-term resource conservation also requires the integration of resource use and conservation.

The examples described in this chapter interweave three themes. First, traditional modes of resource use as well as novel forms of exploitation can, under some circumstances, be carried on within areas that are considered preserves. Second, resource uses outside preserves should support, rather than undermine, ecosystem conservation. Third, resource conservation must be linked to tangible benefits for local people. This is especially important if the people who benefit from conservation live far from the place where that conservation takes place. Before looking at these themes in more detail, however, it is necessary to revisit the concept of sustainable use.