Humans, animals and other life forms are depending on a clean and healthy ecosystem. The main goal of a sustainable resource use and development is to ensure that there is no long-term damage inflicted upon the environment and there is no depletion of supplies when using the natural resources that include both renewable and nonrenewable resources.

Resilience is important to sustainable development because resilience leads to sustainability. If an ecosystem is resilient, it has a higher chance of being able to bounce back into its normal patterns and processes after a natural disturbance. In this way, it can provide the ecosystem services needed by the people in order to maintain their well-being. However, if an ecosystem is not resilient after a catastrophe, it would collapse. This event leads to its inability to sustain life forms; hence, the ecological sustainability of the planet is reduced.

Sustainability aims to provide human needs without causing the depletion of natural resources and long-term environmental harm. The planners must identify if a particular project causes harm to the water, soil, and climate. If these variables are identified, they would come up with a better decision in promoting sustainable development.