Those were the key messages at a seminar at Durrell Wildlife last week, which featured presentations from both the public and private sectors.
Keynote speaker Professor Ian Christie described some of the current threats, including dwindling oil supplies, climate change, and a growing population.
Prof Christie, who is joint head of sustainability at Surrey County Council, said that the western economy depended on a stable ecosystem, yet continued to abuse that system by draining natural resources and dumping toxic wastes.
He said that by the end of the century the population would reach 96 billion and that if everyone in the world had a western lifestyle they would need two planets to sustain them.
