ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews conservation problems in order, seeking to identify theoretical optima, and describes the 'materials balance' approach to the environment. The importance of the materials balance idea is in emphasizing the role of all parts of the economic system as producers of unwanted residuals. This emphasis contrasts with the traditional economic view of pollution as an external effect. The approach can usefully be extended from physical materials to energy. It begins from the physical laws governing matter and energy, and uses these and known physical magnitudes to build up an inter-related accounting system of stocks and flows. The chapter also reviews some of the policy problems arising in connection with agriculture and the environment. A related environmental conservation issue is to be found in the interaction between farming and wild-life. The report begins by asserting the importance of wild-life conservation.
