Quality of Life: The Importance of Man-Environment Relations and a Tentative Conceptual Model

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Abstract
In holistic planning for a group of hydrographic basins, administrators must simultaneously envision the diverse socioeconomic and environmental problems that accompany development projects. Solutions to these complex problems are increasingly sought through a new kind of consciousness-raising which emphasizes the importance of the concept of the quality of life. This notion is difficult to define. The primary goal of this study was to develop a descriptive and conceptual model of the quality of life concept. This dynamic and envolving model was based on pecuniary advantages and embodied 6 constituent parts: survival of the species, well-being, activities, production, overproduction and life constraints. The model was applied to socioeconomic and environmental repercussions resulting from the establishment of an integrated forestry complex (a Kraft bleached pulp and paper factory and sawmills) in the watershed of the Chamouchouane River, central Quebec, Canada.