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SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS OF NATURAL RESOURCES

Introduction
Traditionally; ecosystems fall under one of the two main categories i.e. terrestrial ecosystem and aquatic ecosystem (https://sciencing.com). Several anthropogenic activities have been created to take place in those two ecosystem categories and related impacts onto the biotic and abiotic components there-in have been noticed and reported over the years (https://education.nationalgeographic.org). Such impacts have forced new developments in the field of natural resource and/or environment management where by management systems have come into place to facilitate their combating and/or counteractivity.

What does a sustainable management system entail?
As adopted from El-Haggar and Samaha (2019) and the US EPA (https://www.epa.gov), in this write-up; four different frame works/models as a apart of sustainable management systems have been briefly discussed as a presentation of what this concept entails, these are: EMS/ISO 14001:This is a framework that helps an organization achieve its environmental goals through consistent review, evaluation, and improvement of its environmental performance based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) methodology (https://www.epa.gov). It consists of a systematic process that allows an organization to “assess, manage, and reduce environmental or natural resource hazards (El-Haggar and Samaha, 2019). This model entails five main elements i.e. EMS-CP: This model entails all the above five elements of the EMS/ISO 14001 system to which the “cleaner production (CP)” element is incorporated between the implementation and evaluation elements. Furtherstill; the CP element is reconnected to the first element (i.e. environment policy) to create a cycle between environment policy, planning, implementation and cleaner production before performing an evaluation operation. The CP element follows the “prevention is better than control” strategy as an organization performs its routine operations; three main mini-elements that make up the CP element include: source reduction, recycling, and product modification. These mini-elements of the CP focus on reducing and/or eliminating any possibilities of environmental or natural resource degradation (El-Haggar and Samaha, 2019).
 * 1) Environmental management system (EMS) or International Standardization organization 14001 (ISO 14001) i.e. EMS/ISO 14001
 * 2) Environmental management system-cleaner production (EMS-CP)
 * 3) Occupational health and safety assessment 18001 (OHSAS 18001)
 * 4) Sustainability management system (SMS)
 * Commitment and environment policy – this is the first element where an organization develops its own unique environment policy that ensures sustainable ecosystems
 * Planning – Here; an organization identifies the environmental aspects of its operations and it sets objectives and targets for such aspects. Any relevant legal frame works are also developed to help guide schedules that aim at fulfilling the policy. The end product of this element is usually an environment management program or plan.
 * Implementation – Using the allocated resources (i.e. human resource, budgets, raw materials etc), the organization’s environment plan in taken into action here. One main important operation in this element is documentation which is done for every operation undertaken here-in. Other operations may include; staff training, community outreach programs among others.
 * Evaluation – In this element; the organization performs operational checks to assess and determine whether it is on the right track as per its environment policy and plan. Some key operations here-in include; auditing, operations monitoring and measurement, records review, assessing conformance/compliance etc.
 * Review – Here; the organization’s management performs a review operation based on the evaluation report(s) at hand. It is through this review that management determines whether the set objectives were met as per its EMS. Any success and/or loop holes identified provide a foundation for further continual improvement.

OHSAS 18001: Being that man is an important element of ecosystems; his health and safety too are of great importance in that sense. To achieve this; a specific standard i.e. the OHSAS 18001, has been developed into function focusing on the safety, health, and wellbeing of employees in the different companies and/or organizations. This standard enables companies and/or organizations develop a system of commitment towards providing safe working environments, protecting employees, and improving overall performance through the identification, elimination, and continual improvement of hazards and risks within the work environment (El-Haggar and Samaha, 2019).

Sustainability management system (SMS): This model entails all the above five elements of the EMS/ISO 14001 system to which the “cradle-to-cradle (C2C)” element is incorporated between the implementation and evaluation elements. Furtherstill; the C2C element is reconnected to the first element (i.e. environment policy) to create a cycle between environment policy, planning, implementation and C2C before performing an evaluation operation. The C2C element applies several biological and technological techniques that aim at ensuring waste re-use in all routine operations; these C2C techniques focus on reducing and/or eliminating any possibilities of environmental or natural resource degradation i.e. the biological techniques focus on the biodegradable materials used in routine operations while the technological techniques focus on the non-biodegradable materials in routine use and how they can re-used into the same products or any other new products and hence ensuring sustainable resource utilization (El-Haggar and Samaha, 2019; https://sustainabilityguide.eu; and https://www.treehugger.com).

Conclusion
With the above discussion; it can be appreciated as to what entails sustainable management systems in relation to how they can improve sustainable aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems based on the elements that comprise those different systems or models. It is thus suggested here-in that all the above four systems or models should be used at the same time for more fruitful sustainable development.