Mainstream impact assessment is founded on the assumption that desirable environmental services only emerge from systems characterised by biophysical and socio-economic stability. This assumption has shaped concepts such as sustainability and resilience, which are in turn applied as platforms for impact assessment. Evidence from cases in Namibia’s rangelands suggests, however, that devising indicators and interpreting system impact in terms of a single stability domain may produce a misguided assessment. This paper develops the examination of resilience in relation to impact assessment, which was introduced in Jiggin J and Powell N 1999, Participatory Land and Social Assessment.