The conservation and sustainable management of ecosystems are the vital components in the pursuit of development goals that are ecologically, economically and socially sustainable. This requires an understanding of the complex functioning of ecosystems, and recognition of the full range and diversity of resources, values and ecological services that they represent. In this regard, the current research envisages integration of the ecological, environmental considerations into administration and management of river basins, which is a major step towards an ecological audit that eventually should result in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The four dimensions that are relevant to the estimation of carrying capacity are:
(i)      The stock of available resources to sustain rates of resource use in production.
(ii)     The capacity of the environmental media to assimilate wastes and residuals from production and consumption.
(iii)    The capacity of infrastructure resources (e.g., distribution and delivery systems) to handle the flow of goods and services and resources used in production.
(iv)    The effect of both resource use and production outputs on quality of life.
Ecosystem carrying capacity can be defined as ‘the maximum number of a species that can be supported indefinitely by a particular habitat, allowing for seasonal and random changes, without degradation of the environment and without diminishing carrying capacity in the future. Carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of activities (biological, developmental, agricultural, and industrial, population) that can be supported over a period of time in the habitat without damaging the existing quality of life, balance of resources, ecology and productivity of the ecosystem. Ecological Carrying Capacity provides physical limits as the maximum rate of resource usage and discharge of waste that can be sustained for economic development in the region. The aim of Environmental Carrying capacity is to adjust/increase the ability of the natural environment. Carrying capacity depends on

1. Resources (Biological or Non Biological) that influences on the number of species in the habitat based on the current condition.
2. Interaction (Physical, Chemical, Biological) between the resources and the processes involved in conversion/production of resource to a desired output with residuals and wastes in the environment
3. Habitat (Region), Human Choices, Living Standards, Time, technology
4. Economic Conditions, Growth Strategies and Policies;
5. Social-Cultural and Political Aspects

Planning for development within the limits of carrying capacity recognises that humankind is dependent on the productive capacity of ecosystems, and therefore, a minimal level of ecosystem integrity is to be maintained for human survival. Planning for sustainable development calls for trade-offs between the desired production-consumption levels through the exploitation of supportive capacity within its regenerative capacity and environmental quality within the assimilative capacity of regional ecosystem. The utilisation of carrying capacity, thus, requires a series of adjustments to reconcile competing operations in the developmental process through participation of various stakeholders. Assessment of the carrying capacity involves detailed study of ecology and human life in the region. This would be the best guide and tool for both policy makers to choose appropriate developmental and other income generating projects which are in tune with the ecology of the district. The carrying capacity studies, if adapted to the village panchayat levels, can transform lives of people at grass-root level through better understanding of their surroundings, by adopting lifestyles having greater harmony with their environment, so as to reap maximum sustainable benefits.

Due to the increased scale of human activities, exploitation, demand of resources led to production of larger amount of goods and services with byproducts and wastes damaging the environment and the ecosystem at local, regional and global scales, effecting sustainable development in the region. Through carrying capacity investigations, it is possible to identify locations for conservation (ecologically sensitive) as well as development in the region as carrying capacity allows us to divide the region into various classes based on the different resource availability.
Carrying capacity research in the Netravathi River basin began, through inventorying, mapping and monitoring of the vegetation and fauna. Such a dynamic documentation process enabled to keep proper stock of its biological and ecosystem diversities and to supervise their judicious use for sustainable progress.  Data required for natural resource planning included spatial data such as, information of physiography of the area, land use, assets, etc. The scope of a carrying capacity study has been extended to the analysis of supportive capacity in the region with respect to resource availability/utilisation, supply/demand, infrastructure/congestion and assimilative capacity/residuals. Hence, the carrying capacity is assessed as the ability to produce desired outputs (i.e., goods and services) from a limited resource base (i.e., inputs or resources) while at the same time maintaining desired quality levels in this resource base. 
Ecological carrying capacity provides physical limits as the maximum rate of resource usage and discharge of waste that can be sustained for economic development in the region. The ecological sensitivity of ecosystems refers to their ability to cope with various kinds of environmental disturbances that have the potential of adversely changing the character of the natural landscapes. Identification of Ecologically sensitive Regions (ESRs) considering spatially both ecological and social dimensions of environmental variables helps in ecological and conservation planning as per Biodiversity Act, 2002, Government of India. The framework of delineation of Ecological Sensitive Regions (ESR) would help in identifying local hotspots of biodiversity, ecology and hydrology. The current research attempts to integrate ecological and environmental considerations into administration, and prioritizes regions at Panchayat levels (local administrative unit) in Netravati River basin, Central Western Ghats, Karnataka state considering attributes (biological, Geo climatic, Social, etc.) as ESR (1-4) through weightage score metrics. This has provided the details such as regions of extreme sensitivity, high sensitivity, moderate sensitivity corresponds to the zones of principal functions such as prohibited development zone, restricted development zone, an optimized development zone in planning.
The ESRs have been delineated at the village levels. There are 433 villages in the Netravathi river basin. Identification of ESRs in Netravathi region would aid in sustainable planning towards the sound ecological regional development. There are  111 villages in  ESR-1, 69 villages in ESR-2 119 villages in ESR-3 and 134 villages in ESR 4. ESR 1 and ESR 2 are to be strictly no-go area with respect to developments and ESR 4 is referred as a least possible eco-sensitive region. The Community-based Conservation (CBC) approaches in ESR 2 and 3  would help in the conservation of biological diversity (or wildlife). Degradation of these eco-sensitive region with the unplanned developmental path will only erode the sustenance of natural resources and would affect the local livelihood.