Sustainable Use of Natural Resources, a New Requirement of the Route from Production to Consumption

Natural resources constitute a topic of high interest in various fields of reference, including interdisciplinary ones. The consumption of natural resources and their value perception concerns both the economic and the political, social or administrative world. Agriculture, as the primary beneficiary and user of natural resources, is almost entirely dependent on the existence and quality of these resources. Since agriculture depends on satisfying the basic needs of individuals, it is extremely important to analyze resource consumption and production systems for which natural resources are the main inputs. Therefore, sustainable management of natural resources is among the most important issues. From the perspective of the production-consumption relationship and the sustainable development of consumption needs should be addressed simultaneously. In this sense, an eco-economic evaluation of a Natura 2000 site in Romania (Dobrina Forest) is presented, as an example and with the aim of emphasizing a sustainable way of assessing the consumption and exploitation of resources. The results indicate that ensuring sustainability on the production-consumption route significantly depends on the awareness of the vital role that natural resources have for the economic environment, as well as on changing the value perception of resource use.