One of the challenges that face humanity is how to manage resource and environmental endowments in a way that will guarantee continued survival and ensure the well-being of future generations. Those resources most important to human survival are food, water, and energy. When the population of the world reached 5 billion in 1987, approximately 87 million people were being added to the world annually, and the world population is projected to reach 6.1 billion by 2000. The growing urban populations are consumers of food, energy, and raw materials rather than producers. Experts agree that enough food is produced to feed every one of the world's people, but food crises occur because cultivatable land, water resources, and wealth are not distributed proportionally to the population. Soil loss is greatest in Asia and Africa due to overgrazing, deforestation, inappropriate irrigation, and the use of incorrect farming methods. In order to feed the world's people, it is necessary to improve agricultural output with methods that do not harm the land. Rapidly growing populations and the expanding use of water make the careful use of the water supply essential. The continued use of oil as the major energy resource could strain developing countries' already struggling economies. In the past, the human species has been able to save itself from problems which were the result of its own creation. To do this now, all nations and interests must be represented in programs concerned with the management of the earth. (SM)