Zbyněk Ulčák

Indicators of Agricultural Sustainability — the Moral of a Story

It has become obvious that serious attempts at achieving sustainability cannot be based on changes of technologies. An applicable system of sustainable land use requires both the termination of isolated searches for “greener” technologies in agriculture and the beginning to understand agriculture as an integrated part of a broad range of activities taking place in a region. Sustainability should be analysed at regional level (in catchments) rather than at the level of individual human activities — agriculture, transport, industry etc. A truly sustainable system of rural land use should incorporate protection of biotic and abiotic resources while maintaining an acceptable level of local economy and achieving satisfactory social conditions. In this process science cannot be regarded as the leading force. Its results are only of advisory value and the burden of responsibility to take steps towards sustainability remains on the shoulders of decision-makers. The search for sustainability must be based on the broad consensus of all stakeholders and the result always reflects the influence of various preferences. Science loses its character as a trusted leader and becomes a partner for discussion. The complexity of sustainability allows us to assume that it will never be totally achieved. Nevertheless, we could move close to it In the case of regional sustainability, the following steps are necessary: identify a state of a region which its inhabitants assume sustainable and the practices they are willing to follow in order to achieve the goal define environmental, economic and social indicators of sustainability respected by a local community use environmentally sound technologies in a whole range of activities create a political system which respects sustainable land use and controls local investment activities