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I conclude from this examination that prediction of the effects that
activities may have on the resilience of particular systems would not
provide a valid basis for determining the acceptability of actions. The
complex systemic behaviour that gives rise to resilience, and the impos-
sibility of knowing whether a system is resilient enough to withstand
disturbance, preclude the use of an approach to decision-making whose
credibility depends on reliable identi
cation of the environmental risks
to which a proposal may expose society. However, an understanding of
the nature of resilience does provide a starting point for developing a
system of governance that is better equipped to improve ecosystem
protection by adopting a holistic and precautionary approach to govern-
ing human activities.
2.3 The meaning of resilience
The term resilience has been used in two different ways to describe an
ecosystem
s
resistance to disturbance and its ability to return to an equilibrium state
following perturbation.
45
However, it is its second and more recent use
which better captures its role in promoting the long-term survival of
ecosystems. This, as it was
'
s response to external events. The
rst refers to a system
'
ned by Holling, is concerned with the
magnitude of disturbance that a system can experience before it shifts
into a different state.
46
A more recent explanation of this property also
emphasises the ability of an ecosystem to
rst de
reorganize while undergoing
change so as to retain essentially the same function, structure, identity,
and feedbacks
'
.
47
These de
nitions do not equate resilience with a total
immunity to change as this, although it may preserve an ecosystem in
the short-term, would ultimately result in its collapse due to an inability
to react to changing conditions.
48
Rather, they place emphasis on the
adaptive capacity of ecosystems as the characteristic that allows them to
'
45
Holling and Gunderson,
'
Resilience and Adaptive Cycles
'
, p. 27; Gunderson,
'
Ecological
Resilience
'
,426;Allenetal ,
'
Commentary on Part One Articles
'
,pp.5
-
6; Folke,
'
Resilience
'
, 256
-
7.
46
C. S. Holling,
'
Resilience and Stability of Ecological Systems
'
(1973) 4 Annual Review of
Ecology and Systematics,1
-
23; Gunderson,
'
Ecological Resilience
'
,426
-
8; C. Folke et al.,
'
Regime Shifts, Resilience and Biodiversity in Ecosystem Management
'
(2004) 35
Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 558; Folke,
'
Resilience
'
, 254
-
7;
Allen et al.,
'
Commentary on Part One Articles
'
,pp.4
-
7.
47
Folke et al.,
48
Holling,
'
Regime Shifts
'
, 558.
'
Understanding the Complexity
'
, 400.
