AN EXPOSITORY PAPER ON ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONEMNTAL PLANNING

Abdulai Abdul-Rahim

Department of Planning
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

2015

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Nature as it provides resources to satisfy human needs put in place mechanisms to ensure
adequate resources are provided to support the existence of organisms for the complete function
of the ecosystem. The growth of human population exerts strains on natural resources. New
technologies and development strategies have led to the depletion of previously reserved
resources (Didem et al, 2009). Growth of human societies has led to surplus resource being
converted into economic and infrastructural fortune. Ruttan (1993) in Didem et al, (2009) notes
that concerns on environment and resources has progressed through three waves. There was the
initial concern of quantitative interactions between resource availability and economic
development. This resulted in technical advancement to increase production in the 1940s and
1950s. This transited to the period of where there was awareness on how natural resources led to
limits in growth and the concern about the capacity of the environment to recycle elements in the
1960s and 1970s. There was a serious struggle of interests in the demand for services of the
environment. There was also concern about ability of the ecosystem to process pollution created
by commodity production and consumption. Rapid growth in per capita income also increased
consumer demand for environmental services (Didem et al, 2009).

As time goes by, human populations keep growing with concentrations in cities and urban areas.
Growing cities impact on their surrounding sensitive ecosystems such as wetlands, forests, and
mountain ecosystems. This is driven by increasing amounts of resources demand which could
result in environmental degradation (UNEP, 2013). Given that ecosystems are closely connected
to their environment, any environmental change may have detrimental ecological repercussions
(Michaelides, 2012). The significant quantities of natural resources being consumed by cities
have a major impact on the environment. The demands for environmental resources are
unsustainable. Unsustainable demand need to be significantly reduced and eventually reversed

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(Newman and Jennings, 2008: 80). Humans interactions with the environment are naturally
designed to complement one another, however, possibilities for conflict and imbalance can arise
at many levels. Some environmental observers fear that the present commitment to industrial
growth and technological advancements will lead to increasing environmental destruction and
depletion of resource. This could eventually result in the collapse of society (Meadows, et al.,
1972: 2004; Goldsmith et al., 1972).

Considering how human population is growing and its consequent effect on the environment and
ecosystem, there is the need to effectively manage it. This therefore calls for effective integration
of environmental and ecological factors into everyday planning. Environmental and ecological
planning has therefore become important to manage the effect of man‟s interaction with his
environment. In its broadest sense environmental planning is an attempt to balance and
harmonize the activities and interactions for which man in his interest of satisfaction, has
superimposed on natural environments. In a resource-constrained world, environmental and
ecological planning are cornerstones of our ability to enhance and sustain the world‟s
environments. With growing interaction between man and the ecosystem, ecological and
environmental planning has gained widespread attention in recent years. This paper therefore
examines this concept in its entirety to understand what goes into it. The paper seeks to review
existing works in ecology and environmental planning. This will help understand the academic
and professional discourses in the field. It will also help understand and possibly contribute to
current debates in the field.

1.2 METHODOLOGY

This is based on the philosophical paradigm of social constructivism. The paper examines the
multiple realities associated with the key concepts of ecology, environment, planning and more
importantly ecological and environmental planning. This is based wholly on literature
simulation, a research approach which focuses on making use of existing knowledge in the field
of study.

The review for this study comprised of locating and summarizing previous studies about a topic
in question. This was done using two main methods. Firstly, an extensive search of books on

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ecology, environment and planning was undertaken at the university library. This led to
identifying relevant materials on the topic. These second involved searching of online databases.
Key databases used for the study included the KNUST online repository, JSTOR, EMERALD,
EBSCOHOST and many others. The study however made use of JSTOR as the main source of
data. Articles retrieved from these sources were thoroughly read to gain an understanding of the
subjects under consideration. Key points were taken from various articles and other publications
and later summarized to obtain this paper.

1.3 DISCUSSIONS-LITIRITURE

This section examines the various key components of ecology and environmental a planning.
The section stars with a definitional overview of ecology, environment and planning. The later
part is then dedicated to extensive review on the subject of planning ecology and environment.

Definitional and Conceptual Overview of Ecology, Environment and Planning

This part examines the meaning of the various key concepts in this paper. Various conceptions
and definitions of the main elements of the essay are presented in this section.

1.3.1 Ecology

The history of the term ecology can be traced to Greece origin. It was derived from two Greek
words „oiko‟ which means „home‟ and „ology‟ meaning „study‟. Its origin is traced to Reiter
(1885) who appears to have been the first to combine the Greek words oikos (house) and logos
(study of) to form the term ecology (Egerton, 1977) implying study of house or habitat. Haeckle
(1870) was however the first to give a real meaning to the newly coined term, ecology. Haeckle
(1870) in Kormondy (2012: 1) notes that, ecology entails the body of knowledge regarding the
economy of nature. Ecology is therefore the study of all the complex interrelations in conditions
of struggle for existence in nature. The term has since grown to become an extensive inter-
displinary concept cutting across many areas. In this sense, many others including Haeckle have
sought to give more meaning to ecology after its first definition in 1870.

Haeckle (1970) in MIT (2009) revisits the term ecology by defining it as the study of the
economy of nature which focuses on research into the total interactions of an organism with its
inorganic and organic environment. Similarly, while Farrell and Runyan (1991) interprets
ecology as a biological study of relationships that exists between plants and animals and the

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environment they are found in. Slocombe (1993) views ecology to be the study of animal
populations, vegetation change and succession in nature. What has been missing in the various
definitions presented so far is the key component which points to the scientific nature of ecology.

This is well captured by Kormondy (2012) who defines ecology as the scientific study of
organism‟s interactions with one another and their physical and chemical environments. This
definition is derived from the works of early ecologist like Shelford (1937) who regarded it as
“that branch of general physiology which deals with the organism as a whole”; Elton (1927) who
defined ecology as “scientific natural history” concerned with “sociology and economics of
animals” in life; Clements (1905) who considered ecology as “the science of the community”;
Friederichs (1958) who regarded ecology as “the science of the environment”. All these
definition highlights the scientific nature of ecology embodied in karmony‟s definition.

Kormondy (2012), in explaining the scientific nature of ecology stresses that, the fact that
ecology describes, classifies, hypothesizes, and tests hypotheses, it is a science just like the
classical ones like physics and chemistry. However, the fact that ecology extends to human
interactions, including aesthetics, ethics, politics, and economics makes it differ from the
classical ones. Ecology is therefore a multidisciplinary enterprise which fits into many channels
of scientific inquiry. These channels ranges from reductionism in the study of individual species
populations, less reductionist approaches in the study of communities, and holistic methods in
studies of biomes (Kormondy, 2012) of nature. It is an interdisciplinary field that cuts across
biology and earth science. In this study, ecology is fundamentally the „study of habitation‟, a
scientific study of the relationships between organisms and their environment.

Ecology is the scientific study that examines how living things interact among themselves and
their natural environment, structure and functions of ecosystems. It focuses on how the living
organisms (animal and plants) react with biotic and abiotic factors in their environment. Ecology
on animal focuses on the whole-animal function and alteration to ever-changing environments.
These alterations have a tendency to maximize the capacity the animal to survive and reproduce
successfully. Physiological processes studied in ecology are temperature regulation, nutrition,
water and metabolism on energy and energetics and response to environmental stresses. These
environmental factors may include nutrition, disease, climate variation and toxic exposure. It is
an important science in understanding how the world works (ECO Globe, 2012).

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Ecology is a whole complex entity with interlinked components working together for one goal.
Based on the complexity of ecology, ecologist normally classifies it into different types. Though
there are different classifications and types of ecology, the broad ones include Population
ecology, the studies of structure and dynamics of populations: Community Ecology, the study of
interactions between organisms and Ecosystem Ecology which studies community of living
organism. This includes plants, animals, and microbes together and abiotic components of their
environment (water, air and mineral soil) interrelating as one system (ECO Globe, 2012: MIT,
2009).

1.3.2 Environment

The concept of environment is one of the common concepts in development and ecological
literature. Historically, the term environment emerged from a French word „Environner’
meaning „to surround’. Until recently, the concept of environment has largely been applied in
relation to the physical world and everything that surrounds it. It was viewed as all living and
non-living things occurring naturally on earth or some region thereof (Johnson et al, 1997). This
was limited to climate, weather, and natural resources that affect human survival and economic
activity. Thus, the sum total of water, air and land interrelationships among themselves and also
with the human being, other living organisms and property. It is mostly referred to as the natural
environment. Natural environment here is contrasted with the built environment, which
comprises the areas and components that are strongly influenced by humans. A geographical area
is regarded as a natural environment if the human impact on it is kept under a certain limited
level (Environment and Ecology, 2015). It includes all the physical and biological surrounding
and their interactions.

However, recent studies show that the meaning of environment transcends physical boundaries
to include economic activities. This means, environment entails surrounding and everything that
affect an organism during its lifetime. It can also be perceived as human surroundings that
provide locations for economic activities (Michaelides, 2012). This conception of environment
expands the scope to include extensively altered areas of the natural earth. It admits the growing
link between man‟s built and natural environments. The recent conceptions therefore see both as
key components in shaping the surrounding and relationships in the ecosystem.

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In ecological studies, environment is generally used to denote the natural surroundings of an
organism. Generally, the environment can be categorized into three namely biotic, abiotic and
cultural. This classification takes care of both the natural and manmade environment. Biotic
environment refers to living organisms and all biological aspects of the ecosystem (Buckley,
2003). Abiotic environment include physical conditions and non-living resources that affect
living organisms in terms of growth, maintenance, and reproduction (Ricklefs, 2005: Hogan,
2010). The cultural aspect of environment is determined by the level of development of
individuals and includes social, economic and political elements (Buckley, 2003). The
environment is therefore a whole complex of interlinked components which comes together to
influence an organism in its lifetime.

1.2.3 Ecology and Environment: The Linkage and Difference

Ecology is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of life and the interactions
between organisms and their natural environment. The environment of an organism includes
physical properties, which can be described as the sum of local abiotic factors such as
insolation (sunlight), climate, and geology, and biotic ecosystem, which includes other
organisms that share its habitat. Environment refers to the conditions surrounding an organism.
These conditions include both abiotic factors like temperature and rainfall as well as biotic
factors like predation and competition. An ecosystem is a natural unit entailing all plants,
animals and micro-organisms (biotic factors) in a region functioning collectively with all of the
non-living physical (abiotic) factors of the environment (Kumar, 2015). Ecology and
environment are therefore two elements which are difficult to separate. There is a direct
composition of each in the other.

Ecology and environmental are correlated but each element is distinct when looked upon in
context with the specifics. Environment is bigger and is a mixture of social as well as natural
components. Ecology is one element of the environment. The most important difference between
ecology and environment is that environment is more concerned with the interaction between
natural resources while ecology is more concerned about how the available natural resources
scatters throughout an environment. Ecology is purely dedicated to the ecosystem and its

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connection with the surrounding environment and hence is a narrower field (InnovateUs Inc,
2013).

1.2.4 Planning

The concept of planning is as old as urban civilization. Earlier conception of planning saw it
regarded as a purely spatial activity, aiming at the economically rational allocation of space for
different purposes, in such a way that maximises utility and minimises cost. However, planning
in the modern sense is viewed as an act of systematically applying knowledge to action for a
purpose which reaches beyond urban form (Campbell & Fainstein, 2003). This brief account of
planning shows the significant changes which it has gone through since the precursory activities
of monumental planning in the 19th century. There has been a shift in focus the immediate
physical environment to broader societal goals and the very ability of planning to handle the
tasks that it has been deployed to solve problems. In its conceptualization it has been moving
forth and back between being regarded as a value-free technical or scientific endeavour or a
means for redefinition of values and social change.

Friedman (1987) broadened the scope of the concept of planning to include social, economic,
and human development indices. Friedman (1987) defines planning concept as the collection and
analysis of information for the purposes of serving public interest by directing wide range of
human, economic and other developmental activities. According to this definition, the
information collected through the process of planning often determines the type of plans to be
made. This explanation may have influenced urban and regional planners‟ use of Patrick
Geddes‟ planning process of survey, analysis and plan as an unofficial motto, in terms of
defining the concept of planning. What is however short in Friedman‟s conception is the
limitation of planning activity to broad scale, expertise guided plan making. This is portrayed in
the complex process of collecting data for analysis to inform planning.

Literature indicates that planning, as a concept, planning has become an instrument for policy
formulation and implementation. This involves not only technical-functional, but also social,
economic, and environmental rationales of future thought (Tidman, 2011). Consequently, the
meaning of the concept of planning has gradually shifted towards a process of human fore
thinking, and actions which are taken based on that forethought, with the best use of land and

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enhancement in the human environment. (Chadwick, 1971,p 63, cited in Yaakup & Sulaiman,
2001). By this interpretation, a clear understanding of the planning concept as a process and way
of decision making based on careful judgments is made.

According Conyers and Hill (1989:1), planning is “a continuous process, which involves
decisions, or choices, about alternative ways of using available resources, with the aim of
achieving particular goals at some time in future”. This definition echoes the important
ingredients of modern day planning by stressing the decision making, using resources and
achieving future goals. Planning aims at achieving goals and this achievement is subject to
limited resources. The need to make rational decisions is therefore imminent. Planning involves
decision making which is a way of selecting the best alternative from a number of available
options. This process of decision making requires judgment, sensitivity and creativity, and is
often referred to as an art and science. Tidman (2011) opines that, the concept of planning
involves a process of making decisions on what to do and how to do it, and can occur at different
levels, including day to day individual decisions to complex decisions by businesses and
governments. Planning is therefore a decisions making endeavor which happens at multiple
levels in society. It involves trying to understand how resources can best be used to satisfy the
needs of society in the present and future.

1.3.5 Ecology and Environmental Planning

From the preceding discussions on ecology, environment and planning, the linkages among these
concepts have become clear. The concept of ecology and environmental planning sterns from
ensuring wise use of resource provided by nature. There are multiple and complex interactions
between humans and the environment in man‟s attempts to live a comfortable life. These
interactions affect environmental and ecological elements in both positive and negative ways. It
is noted that that

“Our behaviour makes huge demands on the planet. During the 20th century, the world
increased its use of fossil fuels by a factor of 12 and extracted 34 times more material resources.
Demand for food, animal feed and fibre may increase by 70% by 2050. If we carry on using
resources at the current rate, we will need more than two planets to sustain us” (European
Union, 2013:4)

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This quotation explains the extent to which humans are causing damage to the eco-system and
environment around them. It is on the basis of this that it becomes important to put in place
measures to guide the nature and extent to which humans influence and affect the environment.
This led to the emergence of many concepts pointing to effective management of environmental
and ecological elements. One of the early approaches to planning environmental resource use can
be traced to the emergence of conservation in 1662. The early conservation movement included
fisheries protection and wildlife management, water management, soil conservation and
sustainable forestry practices. This has however been broadened from the early movement's
emphasis on use of sustainable yield of natural resources and preservation to include biodiversity
preservation. The idea of conservation called for planning of ecological and environmental
resources. The main aim was for man to make use of these resources in such a way it could still
be sustainable for the future. In this sense, the environmental resources should be used by
humans for their needs but managed in a responsible manner. These people see the value of the
environment as the goods and services it can provide to people (Cunningham, 2015).

Closely linked but more reserved was the view of preservation. The approach of preservation is
much stricter than the conservationist style. Under preservation of the environment, natural
resources should not be consumed by humans. They should be maintained in their untouched
state. Preservationists believe that humans access to the land should only geared towards
utilizing it for its natural beauty and inspiration. The value of the land is not what you can use
from it, but instead that land has an intrinsic value. This means that natural resources are
valuable in itself simply by just existing (Cunningham, 2015).

Conservation and preservation are seen as attempts to effectively manage ecology and
environmental resources. In the modern day, the call for sustainability is seen as the root of
ecology and environmental planning. In the early 1970s, the United Nations Conference on
Human Environment emphasized the importance of sustainable development and sustainability
and acknowledged the importance of the environment in human development process. The
World Commission on Environment and Development coined a definition of sustainable
development, which is probably the most well-known in all of sustainability literature.
Sustainable development refers to development “that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WECD, 1987). It

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involves improving human welfare in a way that does not result in compromising the
environment for current and future use (Mensah and Castro, 2004)

Sustainability of a society is dependent on the management of resources and the environment to

meet current and future societal needs (Slocombe, 1993: 1998). However, with recent population
growth, particularly in developing countries, the impacts of such growth on ecologically
sensitive areas and the environment in general is ever becoming significant. This has called for a
new discipline that tries to combine conservation, preservation, protection and an efficient
management model that seeks to protect interest of human and the environment.

Ecology and environmental planning has therefore emerged as field of research and practice to
respond to the increasing destruction of ecological and natural areas in in the course of human
development. Though some kind of preservation and conservation was carried out to manage the
environment, ecology and environmental planning was a reserved responsibility of ecologists,
environmentalists and resource managers, while planning for development became the work of
the economist and the mainstream urban and regional planners. The absence of a strategy for
integrating environmental and ecological issues into mainstream urban and rural planning led to
the emergence of a new discipline called ecology and environmental planning. Ecology and
environmental planning focused mainly on sound development of communities with due
consideration for land uses especially natural areas, and infrastructure, achieved through goal
setting and planning regulation (Slocombe, 1993).

Williams (2000, p.11) posits that, ecology and environmental planning involves strategies and
techniques that combine urbanism and nature to fashion healthy, civilizing, and enriching
habitats for people to live. This means that, it seeks to achieve a “living area governed more by
nature than legislature; and a sustainable human settlement based on ecological balance,
community self-reliance, and participatory democracy" (Williams, 2000:11). According to
Slocombe (1993), ecology and environmental planning is a more descriptive and science based
planning approach that focuses on the biophysical surroundings of people and their community
and the effect that plans and development activities have on them. Thus, ecology and
environmental planning has become an effective tool for directing the development of urban
areas in harmony with ecological, economic and social principles, which has the potential to
sustain ecological balance (Thompson & Steiner, 1997, cited in Didem et al, 2009).

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Ecology and environmental planning is a spatial and societal planning activity which includes
both the protection of biotic and abiotic resources as the basis of societal use and the protection
of landscapes and species. It has the task of the distribution of various land uses (such as
agriculture, transport, recreation, nature conservation) in the room and the occurring conflicts in
their view, the best possible solution to be supplied. This requires the integration of different
theoretical and practical knowledge areas like landscape ecology, landscape aesthetics, cultural
history and natural and environmental ethics, legal knowledge and many others. (Technische
Universität München, 2015). Ecology and environmental planning seeks to ensure human
development which does not compromise ecological elements in anyway. In this sense, it is the
practice of making systematic, well thought and guided decisions to guide the nature and extent
of human interaction with his environment and ecosystem.

In relation to implementation, ecology and environmental planning advocates for the integration
of environmental issues in planning decisions, and ensures that institutions responsible for
ecology and environmental planning direct national, local, and sector-specific policies, plans and
investment decisions based on considerable consideration for environmental issues. This
approach of ecology and environmental planning ensures greater participation and collaboration
between environment and stakeholders of development. This strengthens institutions to carefully
consider environmental issues by establishing effective linkages of development and
environment in practice (EU, 2013)

Today, ecology and environmental planning has become a viable strategy or mechanism for
sustaining the built environment by meeting human needs while protecting the natural
environment (Didem et al., 2009). Ecological and environmental planning is a purposeful
requirement in the creation of sustainable benefits of the built environment. Ecological planning
ensures human needs are supplied without compromising resources. In this case, natural
resources are used in the most effective and sustainable manner. Ecological planning also
involves maintenance of ecological balance in a sustained way. Protection of human and
environmental health, healthy ecosystems, eliminating environmental pollution and providing
green spaces and many others are just few activities associated with ecology and environmental
planning (Didem et al., 2009). In Williams‟ (2000) view, ecology and environmental planning is
making it possible for people to live in an area governed more by nature than legislation, and

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resulted in the creation of a sustainable human settlements rooted on principles of ecological
balance, community self-reliance, and participatory democracy (Williams, 2000: 11)

Ecology and environmental planning is a multi-dimensional activity. It provides a wide range of

environmental, economic and social benefits to stakeholders of development. In terms of
environment, it creates ecologically effective green spaces, reduces ecological risks, and
advances the quality of environmental resources. In economic sense, it prevents sprawl of urban
areas and reduces traffic congestion as well as providing better utilization of existing
infrastructure. It reduces health risks, enhance the quality of urban life and city services to ensure
good social environment (Galifianakis, 2006). Other importance of ecology and environmental
planning has been advanced by the United Nations Environment Programme (2013). According
to UNEP, ecology and environmental planning remains the most effective way of integrating
environmental issues in urban planning and development as it provides a platform to incorporate
issues on the environment into existing frameworks, and avoids the formulation of independent
approaches, which are often more costly. In many cities around the world, integrated solutions to
the major environmental challenges are being developed. This is aimed at using ecology and and
environmental planning to transform them into more sustainable and self-sufficient communities
(Didem et al., 2009). Manila in the Philippines, which integrated climate change adaptation
approaches into its development plan, is one of the successful ecology and environmental
planning models. Berlin‟s „biotope‟ strategy is also one good example for ecology and
environmental planning in practice (SenStadtUm, 2009).

1.4 CONLUSION

Human population has reached unprecedented levels and natural resources are being pushed to
unsustainable limits. It is important for cities to develop new visions to become sustainable
entities. There is the need to integrate urban planning and environmental conservation. Planning
should therefore begin to take ecology and environmental resources important in its practice.
Environmental factors should be well incorporated into all planning activities. In this context,
ecology and environmental planning should perhaps be given the most attention in planning
practice if tomorrow‟s populations are to benefit from today‟s resources. Ecology and
environmental planning should therefore be used as a useful tool to plan human activities. This
will help ensure sustainable development of humans and the environment. Urban development

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planners must make use of it, with the aim to produce habitats which are 'user-friendly' and
resourceful, in terms not only its form and energy-efficiency, but also its function, as a place for
living (Elkin et al. 1991: 12).

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