Natural Resources

Environmental Science
Environmental Science
• Natural resources
• Classification
• Natural resources & its
associated problems.
• Forest resources & Forest
Functions.
• Ecological significance of
forests.
Presented By:
Swagat Lenka
M. Pharm
Natural Resources
• Natural resources can be defined as ‘variety of goods and services provided by nature which
are necessary for our day-to-day lives’ in their relatively natural form by which it can be
transformed in a way that it becomes more valuable and useful.
E.g. :
• Plants, animals and microbes (living or biotic part),
• Air, water, soil, minerals, climate and solar energy (non- living or abiotic part).
• They are essential for the fulfillment of physiological, social, economical and cultural needs at
the individual and community levels.
• Most natural resources are made into products; where as very few natural resources are used
in their natural state.
Kinds of Natural Resources
• On the basis of their origin

• Considering their stage of development
• With respect to their renewability
On the basis of origin
• Biotic: Biotic resources are obtained from the biosphere, such as forests and their products,
animals, birds and their products, fish and other marine organisms. Mineral fuels such as coal and
petroleum are also included in this category because they formed from decayed organic matter.
• Abiotic: Abiotic resources include a) non-living things. Examples include land, water, air and
ores such as gold, iron, copper, silver etc.
Considering their stage of development

• Potential: Potential resources are those that exist in a region and may be used in the future.
For example, petroleum may exist in many parts of India, having sedimentary rocks but until the
right time it is actually drilled out and put into use, it remains a potential resource.
• Actual: Actual Resources are those that have been surveyed, their quantity and quality determined
and are being used in present times. For ex, Wood from forest.
With respect of renewability
• Renewable: or inexhaustible natural resources are ones that can be restocked or reproduced
easily over a period of time.
• Natural resources which can be used but can be regenerated by natural processes provided if
there is no intervention in natural regeneration cycle.
• Some of them like sunlight, air energy, wind energy, tidal energy, hydro energy, biomass
energy, wildlife etc. are continuously available and their quantity is not affected by human
consumption.
• Non-renewable: or exhaustible natural resources are formed over very long geological
periods. Minerals and fossil fuels are included in this category.
• Those are the recourses which will be exhausted in the future if we continue to extract these
without a thought for subsequent generations.
• Since their rate of formation is extremely slow, they cannot be replenished once they get
depleted.
Natural resources and associated problems
• Different types of natural resources are there like, forest, water, food, energy and land resources.
• The main problem associated with natural resources is unequal consumption. A major part of
natural resources are consumed in the ‘developed’ world. The ‘developing nations’ also over use
many resources because of their greater human population.
• However, the consumption of resources per capita (per individual) of the developed countries is
up to 50 times greater than in most developing countries. Advanced countries produce over 75%
of global industrial waste and greenhouse gases. Energy from fossil fuels consumed in relatively
much greater quantities in developed countries.
• Their per capita consumption of food too is much greater as well as their waste. The USA for
example with just 4% of the world’s population consumes about 25% of the world’s resources.
• Producing animal food for human consumption requires more land than growing crops. Thus
countries that are highly dependent on non-vegetarian diets need much larger areas for
pastureland than those where the people are mainly vegetarian.
• Land itself is a major resource, needed for food production, animal husbandry, industry, and for our
growing human settlements. These forms of intensive land use are frequently extended at the cost of
‘wild lands’, our remaining forests, grasslands, wetlands and deserts.
• Thus it is essential to evolve a rational land-use policy that examines how much land must be made
available for different purposes and where it must be situated.
• For instance, there are usually alternate sites at which industrial complexes or dams can be built, but a
natural wilderness cannot be recreated artificially.
• Land as a resource is now under serious pressure due to an increasing ‘land hunger’ – to produce
sufficient quantities of food for an exploding human population. It is also affected by degradation due
to misuse.
• Land and water resources are polluted by industrial waste and rural and urban sewage. They are
increasingly being diverted for short-term economic gains to agriculture and industry. Natural
wetlands of great value are being drained for agriculture and other purposes. Semi-arid land is
being irrigated and overused.
• The most damaging change in land use is demonstrated by the rapidity with which forests have
vanished during recent times, both in India and in the rest of the world. Forests provide us with
a variety of services.
• These include processes such as maintaining oxygen levels in the atmosphere, removal of
carbon dioxide, control over water regimes, and slowing down erosion and also produce
products such as food, fuel, timber, fodder, medicinal plants, etc. In the long term, the loss of
these is far greater than the short-term gains produced by converting forested lands to other
uses.
FOREST RESOURCES
• A forest can be defined as a biotic community predominant of trees, shrubs or any other woody
vegetation usually in a closed canopy. It is derived from Latin word ‘foris’ means ‘outside’.
• India’s Forest Cover is 6,76,000 sq.km (20.55% of geographic area). Scientists estimate that India
should ideally have 33% of its land under forests. Today we only have about 12% thus we need not
only to protect our existing forests but also to increase our forest cover.
Forest Functions :
1) Protective and ameliorative functions.
2) Productive functions
3) Recreational and educational functions
4) Development functions
I. Protective and ameliorative functions
A. Watershed protection.
• Reducing the rate of surface run-off of water.
• Preventing flash floods and soil erosion.
• Producing prolonged gradual run-off and thus safeguarding against drought.
B. Erosion control.
• Holding soil (by preventing rain from directly washing soil away).
C. Land bank.
• Maintaining soil nutrients and structure.
D. Atmospheric regulation.
• Absorption of solar heat during evapotranspiration.
• Maintaining carbon dioxide levels for plant growth.
• Maintaining the local climatic conditions.
II. Productive Functions
• Local use – Consumption of forest produce by local people who collect it for sustenance
• Food: (consumptive use) gathering plants, fishing, hunting from the forest.
• Fodder for cattle.
• Fuel wood and charcoal for cooking and heating.
• Poles for building homes in rural and wilderness areas.
• Timber for house hold articles and construction.
• Fiber for weaving baskets, ropes, nets, strings, etc.
• Sericulture for silk.
• Apiculture for rearing bees for honey (bees as pollinators).
• Medicinal plants for traditional medicines, investigating them as potential source for new modern
drugs.
• Market use (productive use) Most of the products used for consumptive purposes and good
source of income for supporting their livelihood of forest dwelling people.
• Minor forest products i.e. non timber forest products (NTFPs) : Fuel wood, fruits, gum, fiber, etc.
which are collected and sold in local markets as a source of income for forest dwellers.
• Major timber extraction for construction, industrial uses, paper pulp etc. Timber extraction is
done in India by the forest department, but illegal logging continues in many of the forests of
India and the world.
III. Recreational And Educational Functions:
• Eco tourism.
IV. Developmental Functions
• Employment functions.
• Revenue.
Ecological significance of forests:

1. Balances CO2 and O2 levels in atmosphere.
2. Regulates earth temperature and hydrological cycle (water cycle).
3. Encourage seepage and reduces runoff losses, prevents drought.
4. Reduces soil erosion (roots binding), prevents siltation and landslides thereby floods.
5. Literally helps in maintaining soil fertility.
6. Safe habitat for birds, wild animals and organisms against wind, solar radiation and rain.

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Environmental Science

• On the basis of their origin

Considering their stage of development

Ecological significance of forests:

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