ABSTRACT
In chapter 1 two principles of environmental management were noted: prudence and stewardship. Standards, monitoring, and the other approaches covered in this chapter are crucial for pursuing those principles. They are vital for meaningful evaluation on which to base forward planning and policy decisions, for law making and enforcement, for effective implementation, co-ordination, and for avoiding unwanted impacts. The establishment of widely applicable scientific standards has been one of the most important achievements of western civilization (‘standards of behaviour’ – ethics – have been discussed earlier, pp. 22-24). Monitoring, modelling, auditing and environmental management systems help ensure ongoing objectives are set and met, check progress and warn of problems and opportunities. Put crudely, standards are benchmarks and the other things discussed in this chapter are concerned with understanding what is happening, checking and stock-taking, using those benchmarks.
