21 Natural Resources

Trilochan Singh

  1. Introduction
  2. Objectives
  3. Definition
  4. Categorization of Natural Resources 4.1 Renewable
  5. Types of Natural Resources 5.1 Land Resources

 

5.1.1   Land

 

5.1.2   Soil

 

5.1.3   Minerals and Rocks

 

5.1.4   Places of Nature’s Scenic Beauty

 

5.2  Bio Resources

 

5.2.1   Forest and Timber

 

5.2.2   Non-Timber Products

 

5.2.3   Medicinal Plants

 

5.2.4   Wildlife

 

5.2.5   Micro-organisms

 

5.3  Hydro Resources

 

5.3.1   Surface Water

 

5.3.2   Ground Water

 

5.4  Atmospheric Resources

 

5.4.1   Air

 

5.4.2   Rain

 

5.4.3   Sunlight

 

5.4.4   Atmospheric Temperature (Heat)

  • 6 Conservation and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources
  • 7 Conclusions
  • 8 References

 

  1. Introduction

 

The Earth is a huge storehouse of various Natural Resources, which are required in day to day life by the human being. In ancient time, our ancestors used to live in jungle and later started living in caves to protect themselves from extreme weather and wild animals. Since food was the basic need, they survived on fruits, plant roots and small animals by killing them for their food. They also started covering their bodies with tree leaves and animal skin. Gradually as the need arises, they discovered various resources to make their life better.

 

Natural Resources, therefore, are directly linked with the humanity from the ancient time. Water, for example, has remained a basic human need from ancient civilization, when inhabitants realised the value of water in their life. As such most of the ancient civilizations were located on the river banks to ensure regular supply of water for day to day activities.

 

In other words, need of various resources initially for surviving and subsequently for improvement of the quality of life of the mankind has always remained a glare of publicity ever since the human has evolved on the Earth in prehistoric time. These resources come from the nature, such as air, water and land, hence called as ‘Natural Resources’.

 

Natural Resources can be used directly or indirectly. For example, water is utilized for drinking purposes, whereas soil provides nutrients to the plants to grow food substance/material. Likewise, forests and its environment provide timber for various purposes, herbal medicinal plants, spices, etc., for direct consumption, and shelter to the wildlife indirectly. Even the natural landscapes provide another source of income in terms of tourism spots.

 

The Natural Resources in a way are the gift of nature that forms an integral part of the human community, in general, and the nation, in particular.

 

  1. Objectives

 

i) To understand Natural Resources and their types.

ii) Exploitation of Natural Resources.

iii) Conservation and sustainable use of Natural Resources.

 

  1. Definition

 

Natural Resources are ‘anything’ available in the nature, which are useful to the mankind, such as air, water, soil, mineral, forest, wildlife, etc.

 

Natural Resources may be defined as any substance occurring in the nature, which is useful in its natural form. The value of Natural Resource depends upon the amount of the substance available and its requirement by the man-kind.

 

In other words, Natural Resources are useful raw materials available on the Earth. These occur in natural form, which are either used/consumed directly or modified in ways to make beneficial to the man-kind. For instance, some substances are used as food, others as for different purposes or to meet vital needs and development of the life style. Thus, some resources are essential for the survival and others are required for the need and desire of the man-kind.

 

A resource has also been defined as any part of the environment, such as land, water, air, mineral, forest, wildlife, etc., which the human beings utilise to promote their welfare, or it satisfies human needs (Ref: http://www.environmentalpollution.in/natural-resources / natural-resources-meaning-and-classification-of-natural-resources/278 ).

 

Further, any substance is considered a natural resource only when it is found in nature or extracted and purified, and is not created. For example, a pearl, when extracted from the bivalve shell is a Natural Resource; but when produced or created in the laboratory, it is not considered as a Natural Resource. Similarly, plants, trees, etc., found in forest are Natural Resources, but when plants are cultivated or produced from agriculture are not considered as the Natural Resources.

 

  1. Categorization of Natural Resources

 

Natural Resources can be categorized as: Renewable, Non-Renewable, and Non-exhaustible.

 

4.1    Renewable

 

The renewable Natural Resources are those that are constantly available and/or can be replenished by themselves or by human efforts in a short period of time, such as trees, forests, animals, micro-organisms, etc. In other words, renewable Natural Resources can be grown again or replaced within a person/generation lifespan, and thus, never run out.

 

There are nutrients (made up of various mineral components / chemicals) in the soil which are required by the living beings. These move round and round in cycles and never run out. For example, when an animal eats a plant, it takes in nutrients from the plant. The nutrients are used in the animal’s body, of which many nutrients may come out as waste, which goes in the soil. Likewise, when the animals die, its nutrients return back to the soil as well. These nutrients are then absorbed by the plants from the soil, and thus the cycle continues. So, nutrients are renewable Natural Resources.

 

There are some renewable resources, which takes a long time to grow or replace. In that case, such renewable resources may be diminished and eventually be die out, if these are used up at a much faster rate than the time taken for their replacement or growth in nature. The rate of sustainable use of a renewable resource is determined by the replacement rate and amount of standing stock of that particular resource. For example, forests, wild life, biomass, non-agricultural food, etc. Wild-life though considered as Renewable Resources, yet some of the endangered species can also be considered as Non-renewable, which are at the merge of being extinct. Similarly, forest is considered to be renewable resource, but in case trees are cut down to be used as bio-mass in the forest quickly or in selective area, it may disturb the ecosystem and gradually the forest will disappear. In that case forests are non-renewable source.Yet, there is another category of renewable resources, such as air and water that move in cycle from one place to another and often back. Another never ending renewable resource is Sunlight.

 

4.2    Non-Renewable

 

Natural Resources of this category exist in nature in a fixed amount and cannot be re-generated or re-replaced at the rate at which these are consumed or utilized, such as gold, lead, zinc, coal, oil, gas, etc. These are also known as Exhaustible Resources. Although minerals are discovered and exploited, but once these are used, these cannot be replaced or renewed.

 

These are found both on Earth’s surface as well as sub-surface, and are often difficult to find out. The quantity of such resources are fixed, and are considered as non-living things. For example, Oil, coal and other minerals, which are supposed to be the most valuable natural resources, once used cannot be replaced, as such these may be exhausted the way these are being consumed. The non-renewable Natural Resources are not able to re-produce or renew in a considerable span of time. In fact, these take much longer period than the lifespan of a man or even generation, rather such resources takes millions of years to form.

 

In other words, the resources that cannot be replenished or reproduced in a short period of time (say within the life time of a human being or its generation). For example, fossil fuel minerals, viz., coal, oil, natural gas, etc., take millions of years to be formed. The present Oil Fields, which are being exploited for consumption, may go dry the way it is being consumed, which are in fixed supply. Soil is another example. Although fertility of the soil or the nutrient contents of the soil can be renewed with fertilizers, but top soil layer as a whole, if removed or eroded away, will take more than a lifetime of a human being to regenerate by natural process, as such soil cannot be renewed within.

The term renewable and non-renewable are time relative.

 

4.3     Non-Exhaustible

 

The resources that can last forever irrespective of human activities, such as air, water, and sunlight. These have natural re-generation and are in-exhaustible. Although these resources renew on its own continuously in the nature, these can, however, be deteriorated / degraded / polluted by the human activities/interference, which then becomes harmful also.

 

Air and water, for example, move in cycle from one place to another, and often back where these started, again and again. Likewise sunlight is also never ending.

 

The Natural Resources may also be categorized as Inorganic and Organic.

 

i) Inorganic : The resources, which are not alive, such as air, water, soil, mineral, etc.

ii) Organic : The resources, which are alive, such as plants, animals, etc.

Taking an example of clothing. Clothes are made up of natural fibre as well as synthetic material. The natural fibre includes cotton, silk, wool, or even animal skins. These all come from the Organic Natural Resources. On the other hand, synthetic fibres are made of polyester, acrylic, rayon, nylon, even plastic, etc. These come from inorganic minerals.

 

  1. Types of Natural Resources

 

Natural Resources are inanimate and are a combination of three resources, which are available in the three realms of the Earth, i.e., Lithosphere, Hydrosphere and Atmosphere. Commonly, these are known as land, water and air. A thin contact zone of these three realms that has made life possible is termed as the Biosphere, which includes human, animal and plant resources. Therefore, natural resources can be categories as Land Resources, Bio Resources, Hydro Resources, and Atmospheric Resources.

 

While the land-resources and hydro-resources in a particular geographical area are limited or fixed in quantity, the bio-resources keeps on varying with time under the interference of physical forces and human activities. A pervasive trend is observed in the bio-resources, where human population is increasing exponentially, at the same time population of other faunal and floral species is decreasing at an alarming rate.

 

5.1    Land Resources

 

5.1.1 Land : Land is one of the most important natural resources. It covers about 30% of the total area of the Earth’s surface. It includes rugged topography, mountains with steep slope, low-lying areas, desert areas, and thick forested areas. All of these areas are normally sparsely populated or uninhabited

 

On the other hand, there are plain areas and river valleys, which offer suitable land for agriculture, as such these are the densely populated areas.

 

Land is used for different purposes such as agriculture, forestry, mining, building houses, roads and setting up of industries. This is commonly termed as Land use.

 

Growing population and their ever growing demand has led to a large scale destruction of forest cover and arable land. Land degradation, landslides, soil erosion, desertification are other major threats to the environment, and on the other hand, agricultural land is being converted into rural areas and constructional activities. All these has created a fear of losing this Natural Resource.

 

5.1.2 Soil : Soil has remained a source of living for human beings and animals. It also support and nourishes plant kingdom, and thus, classified as the basic Natural Resource.

 

 

Soil forms a part of the Earth’s surface, and is formed by a long term processes of complex interaction of climate, topographic relief, flora, fauna, micro-organism, parent rocks and time. The formation of soil can be visualized with the following formula :

 

S = (g.e.b) t

 

where ‘S’ is soil, ‘g’ is geology, ‘e’ is environment; ‘b’ is biological influences and ‘t’ is time. It is estimated that the formation of one inch of soil takes nearly 500 to 1,000 years (Ref : http:// www.environmentalpollution.in/natural-resources/natural-resources-meaning-and-classification-of-natural-resources/278 ).

 

Soil is an important source for supply of vegetarian food. All vegetarian food in terms of vegetables and fruits comes from plants and trees, which get nourishment from various chemical elements in the soil, either through natural occurrence of minerals or in terms of natural fertilizers, such as potash, phosphate, nitrogen, sulphur, etc.

 

In nature, soils restores its fertility by release of nutrients from decay of fallen leaves, twigs and dead bodies of animals; and also biological fixation of nitrogen. Earthworms and rodents further help to enrich the fertility by rotation of deeper soil to the surface by burrowing.

 

Soil erosion and depletion are the major threats to soil as a resource. Factors that lead to soil degradation are deforestation, overgrazing, overuse of chemical fertilizers or pesticides, rain wash, landslides, floods, etc.

 

5.1.3 Minerals and Rocks: There are many minerals on and in the Earth’s crust. These can be categorized as Metallic Minerals, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, etc.; Non-Metallic Minerals, such as graphite, calcite, mica, quartz, feldspar, etc.; and Fuel Minerals, such as coal, oil, natural gas, etc. A few minerals, such as Uranium have been categorizes as Metallic Fuel Minerals.

 

Minerals are scattered all over the Earth, however, their concentrations are found at a very few places.Many minerals are still hidden and unknown as many inaccessible areas are yet to be surveyed.

 

Mineral resources form the basis of industrial development and improvement of the life style of the mankind. Entire mankind largely depends on mineral resources in their day to day life. It is interesting to note that there are 33 minerals involved in a computer, and a simple bulb has many mineral components. Even plastics are made from petroleum jelly, which is a bi-product of the crude oil. Various minerals are involved in construction of buildings in one way or the other. Likewise, rocks also serves as building material, where marble, granite, quartzite, slate, etc., are utilized for making tiles and mosaic chips, which are in demand in modern urbanization. Thus, almost all the things that we use in our daily life have the involvement of minerals.

 

The minerals and rocks falls under the category of non-renewable resources, as these are in fixed quantity.

 

5.1.4 Places of Nature’s Scenic Beauty: The nature’s scenic beauty is one of the Natural Resources, which is being utilized in every country in form of tourism industry. It has found very useful, and more and more virgin areas are being developed to fetch sound economy.

 

Mountains have always remain a source of curiosity and adventure for the mankind since the time immemorial, but it was never classified as a resource. But as people are suffering from the day to day mechanized life and heavy mental pressure of work load due to excess urbanization and industrialization, the people particularly from the urban areas now look forward an opportunity to visit hilly regions from

 

time to time for peace, tranquility, entertainment. Even some visits the hilly region, particularly the Himalayan region for spirituality.

 

Likewise, many people like to visit beaches, deserts, etc., which are nature’s gift to the mankind. Such scenic beauty places have developed as a fast growing natural resource based activity in form of tourism.

 

5.2  Bio Resources

 

Bio resources are those natural resources, which are consumed by the human beings for their need and pride.

 

5.2. 1 Forests and Timber : Forests were the main source of survival of the mankind in the ancient time, where the ancestors live in forest. Even today, there are many local tribal communities, who have the forests as one of the resources for their existence and subsistence. In addition, the forests harbour timber yielding trees, and non-timer forest products including medicinal plants and wild ornamental plants. Even the forests harbour wildlife, maintain ecological balance, controls wind force, provide humus to the soil, prevent soil erosion, etc. It plays a major role in enhancing the quality of the environment and also influence the local climate. Forests also offer panoramic or scenic view for recreation.

 

Timber is a renewable resource, which is used for various purposes. Timber acts as a carbon store, where it plays an important role in reducing carbon emissions. Since most of the timber comes from forest, it requires long-term planning in producing timber in a sustainable way.

 

Forests are natural habitat of flora and fauna and form the important natural resources, which are not only useful to the mankind for providing livelihood in terms of timber, wood, fodder, medicinal plants, etc., but also help to preserve biodiversity, maintain ecological balance, control climate and rainfall, and prevent soil erosion and controls floods. Forests also play a major role in enhancing the quality of environment by maintaining oxygen–carbon dioxide–nitrogen balance in nature. It provides humus to the soil and shelter to the wildlife. Above all, it offers panoramic or scenic beauty for recreation. Forests have also been designated as ‘biodiversity hot spots’. Although Forest is considered to be renewable, by and large it falls under the category of non-renewable resource, as already discussed above.

 

5.2.2 Non-Timber Products : Non-Timber Forest Produces (NTFPs) are natural resources, which are extracted from the roots, stems, flowering panicles, fruits, leaves, etc. Based on the end products, the NTFPs of economic importance can be classified into the following categories :

 

i) Bamboo, Cane and Grasses

ii) Resin, Wax, Gum and Oleo-resin

iii) Spices, edible plants, drug, etc.

iv) Tan and dye

v) Distillation and extraction products including grass oil

vi) Oil seeds, etc.

vii) Fibre and flosses

viii) Miscellaneous products – Broom stick, Toko leaves, Jeng leaves, etc.

 

The NTFPs have a vast scope of commercial exploitation directly and indirectly, whereby these produces are processed to make value added end products. These are highly valuable as the easily available produces do not require high technology for value addition. Most important is that these do not invite environmental and ecological problems.

 

5.2.3 Medicinal Plants : Plants have been used for medicinal purposes long before recorded history. Ancient Chinese and Egyptian papyrus writings describe medicinal uses for plants as early as 3,000 BC (Ref:http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/treatment/herbal-medicine). Medicinal plants have been used in traditional medical system, particularly the Ayurveda.

 

According to the World Health Organization, nearly 80% of people worldwide rely on herbal medicines for some part of their primary health care (Ref : http:// umm.edu/health/medical altmed/treatment/ herbal-medicine). In the recent years, people are returning back to the herbal medicines particularly in view of the high cost of medicines and their side effects.

 

5.2.4 Wildlife: Wildlife is an integral part of the ecosystem. Wildlife is a source of livelihood and subsistence. It provides useful products such as food, medicines, leather, bones, honey, lac, etc. Wildlife plays an essential role in the ecological and biological processes that are significant to life. It helps not  only to preserve biodiversity, but also maintains ecological balance of nature and natural cycle of food chain, which depends on endless interactions amongst plants, animals and micro-organisms.

 

Wildlife falls under the renewable category, however, a large number of birds and animals are in the danger of getting extinct/on the verge of extinction. These are called endangered species. These species are facing major threat of extinction mainly due to hunting by greedy hunters for commercial purpose; pollution due to chemical and industrial waste; disturbance in migratory route and reckless cutting of forests to bring land under cultivation and inhabitation, which are affecting natural habitat of wildlife. There are many plant species also that fall under the category of the endangered species.

 

Other than the endangered species, there are many species, which have been classified as vulnerable species and rare species. Vulnerable species are those, which have abundant population but their habitat is adversely affected, and may become endangered in near future. Rare species are those whose population is very thin because of their natural reproduction.

 

Initiatives have been taken to preserve natural habitats of the wildlife. In this direction, 16 Tiger Reserves, 89 National Parks, 49 Wildlife sanctuaries and many Zoological Gardens have been set up in India. In addition, 14 Biosphere Reserves have also been set up in India, of which 4 have been included in the world network of Biosphere Reserves. These are i) Nilgiri at the tri-junction of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu; ii) Nanda Devi in Uttaranchal; iii) Gulf of Mannar in Tamil Nadu; and iv) Sundarbans in West Bengal.

 

5.2.5 Micro-organisms : Micro-organisms are not seen by naked eyes, but are powerful renewable resource existing in the atmosphere, on the Earth (both land and sea), and even in animals and plants. A large number of micro-organisms fall in the groups of fungi, bacteria and viruses that by and large provide several benefits to the mankind in one way or the other. Some of the benefits include : natural fixation of nitrogen by symbiotic and non-symbiotic bacteria; maintaining ecological balance by saprophytic bacteria and fungi, which are responsible for decomposition of plants and animals into simpler products; some autotrophs micro-organisms produce food by photosynthesis process; etc.

 

A large number of micro-organisms are known to have beneficial characters like fermentation, curdling, which are commonly employed for the benefit of man. Even a large number of micro-organisms are also used to manufacture, on commercial scale, vaccines, medicines, vitamins, acids, proteins, hormones, etc.

 

5.3   Hydro Resources

 

Water is a vital natural resource on the Earth and is a lifeline not only for the human beings but also all living beings. Fortunately, water is a renewable resource that remains in one form or the other. About ¾ of the Earth’s surface is covered with water that harbours a large wealth of plant and animal life, both oceanic (marine) and aquatic (fresh water). It was in the primitive oceans that life originated almost 3.5 billion years back.

 

Significance and importance of water in human life has been realized from the primitive stage of the mankind. Almost all the ancient civilizations were inhabited on the banks of a river or within a convenient distance from the sea. It was to ensure perennial supply of water for day to day activities. Apart from cooking and personal cleanliness, water was used for cultivation and irrigation of crops. In that early age, water was even a major mode of transport, which subsequently became an invaluable source of trade and commerce.

 

Water as a natural resource is, thus, acknowledged as the basic need of all living creatures on the Earth.

Snow is another natural resource that forms a part of the water resource.

 

With the increase of population and expansion in industry the demand of water has increased over the years that has led to the water scarcity. The problem of water shortage has further been aggravated with the overexploitation and pollution or contamination of water. The overexploitation has led to the decrease of ground water level. On the other hand, quality of water has also affected severely due to contamination of surface water, such as arsenic, fluoride, nitrate, iron, etc.

 

5.3.1 Surface Water: As mentioned earlier, although there is enough surface water, but fresh water amounts to 2.7% only. This vast resource is primarily utilized for drinking and irrigation purposes. It is being effectively converted into hydropower resource. Another dimension of the surface water resource is the development of Inland Water Transport System, which is a viable mode of cheap transportation.

 

5.3.2 Ground Water: It is the water that seeps/percolates through rocks and soil and is stored below the surface of the Earth. The places where ground water is stored are called aquifers. Ground water is the main source of drinking water as well as agriculture and industrial use. It is an integral part of the hydrological cycle and thus, largely depends on the rainfall and precipitation. Less than 2 % of the Earth’s water is ground water.

 

5.4 Atmospheric Resources

 

Earth is blessed with Atmospheric Resources that provide the basis of life on the Earth, and at the same time it protects the human being from harsh sun rays. Atmosphere above the Earth provides and replenish carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen that makes existence of the living beings. It also generate hydrological cycle on the Earth.

 

In addition, there is an Ozone layer present in the atmosphere. It is in form of a gas composed of three atoms of oxygen (O3). Ozone occurs both in the Earth’s upper atmosphere and at ground level.

 

Ozone present in the upper atmosphere is called ‘Stratospheric Ozone’. This layer is of utmost importance as it filters out all the ultra violet rays of the sunlight. In case of non-existence of the ozone layer, direct sunlight on the Earth may cause many hazardous consequences on human health and plant and animal life.

 

Ozone present at the ground level is called ‘Tropospheric Ozone’. It is considered harmful as it is created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). It happens when such pollutants, emitted by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources, chemically react in the presence of sunlight. Breathing in such ozone layer can trigger a variety of health problems, particularly for children, elderly, and people of all ages who have lung diseases such as asthma. Ground level ozone can also have harmful effects on sensitive vegetation and ecosystems.

 

The atmospheric resources include Air, Rain, Sunlight, and Heat (Atmospheric Temperature).

 

5.4.1 Air: Air is an important and vital natural resource essential for any living being. Oxygen and Carbon-dioxide, the two main components present in the air, are the fundamental elements of breathing. Presence of Oxygen and Carbon-dioxide in the air vary in space and time, but the variability of Oxygen is much smaller than that of Carbon-dioxide.

 

Air is not uniform throughout the atmosphere, and its density reduces gradually with the altitude. The composition of air also varies different layers of atmosphere. It has 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 0.03% carbon di-oxide at the surface of the Earth. Oxygen is directly responsible for life on the Earth

 

5.4.2 Rain : Rain, also known as ‘precipitation’, forms a part of the atmospheric weather cycle, and is responsible for varying eco-systems on the Earth. Rain provides water to drink as well as to recharge the sub-surface water table, also known as ground water. It helps to grow vegetation and agricultural crop. Farmers consider Rain as the nature’s gift that facilitate them to harvest crops. They particular look for this gift during drought conditions.

 

Acid Rain – Acid Rain is a broad term that includes any form of precipitation with acidic elements that fall to the ground from the atmosphere. In other words, Acid Rain is produced when acidic chemicals are amalgamated into rain, snow, fog, or mist. The “acid” in acid rain comes from sulphur oxides (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are emitted into the atmosphere by vehicles, oil refineries, industries, etc. These gases when react with rain water forms sulphuric and nitric acids, hence such rain is called Acid Rain.

 

5.4.3 Sunlight: It is also a renewable natural resource that provides light, heat and energy. It is the prominent source of natural light for the human being on the Earth. Sunlight is also a potential source of Vitamin ‘D’, particularly ‘D3’. Sunlight is of utmost importance and the integral part of the plants life, where plants particularly the leaves absorbs sunlight for the photosynthesis process that produces energy for the growth of plants. Sunlight is being used as the Solar Energy also.

 

5.4.4 Atmospheric Temperature (Heat): The atmospheric temperature acts as a resource, as it stimulates to produce many natural resources, such as plants, animals and micro-organisms. It also provide enough heat to regulate the environment around the human beings. Atmospheric temperature also governs soil fertility, hydrological cycle and many other abiotic and biotic parameters of the Earth.

 

  1. Conservation and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources

 

Natural Resources, which are are utilized directly and indirectly in the day to day life, are essential for the livelihood of the human society. Initially, the mankind has used Natural Resources to fulfil his basic needs. Subsequently, with the advancement in Science & Technology, it started manipulating the resources for their higher orders of need and greed, and even gone beyond tolerance limits of the nature, thereby, affecting the environment and ecology adversely. In fact, Natural Resources, such as microorganisms, animals and plants together with climate and water conditions, are inherently complex, dynamic and inter-related. All these interact to form a multifaceted web of ecosystem upon which all life depends, hence any change in one of these have long term impact on ecosystem.

 

Stressing amongst various factors that determine the quality of our environment, KD Singh (2002) opined that most fundamental is the way we make use of our Natural Resources. Need is to identify priorities of resource utilisation to achieve the goals of sustainable socio-economic development. Natural Resources are considered to the Nation/State’s asset that earn economy, which may be in form of minerals, oil & natural gas, forests, tourism, etc. Goods produced from Natural Resources form the basis of economy in many developing countries. Even the local trade by and large is based on the niche resources.

 

However, it is human attitude towards the resource management that makes the nation developed, rather than the availability of resources. For example, Japan is poor in Natural Resource base, but is the only nation in Asia having the status of developed country. On the other hand, African countries are full of Natural Resources, yet those are economically poor. America is another example, who always look forward to have the best talent of the world to develop its own Natural Resources. As a result, America is the number one economic developed country in the world. In India, taking the example of the State   of Arunachal Pradesh, Trilochan Singh (2002) has shown that in spite of being resource-rich and having comparatively low population, the State has been a victim of backwardness, because of :

 

i) most of the untapped minerals lie in the forest land, and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 prohibits use of forest land for non-forestry purpose;

ii) the State lacks infra-structural facilities to tap hydroelectric power potential;

iii) mineral based projects are not economical viable because of high transport cost;

iv) lack of infrastructure development in terms of roads, and lack of proper communication in terms of poor networking;

v) lack of resource management in terms of information technology; and

vi) lack of industrial activity and commercialization in terms of horticultural products, handicrafts, small scale cottage industry, etc.

 

Basic problem is that the increasing needs and traditional practices of sharing resources have put the people at the cross roads of traditions and transition in various fields of life. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2009) poor people’s livelihoods remain heavily dependent on Natural Resources. OECD identified seven natural resource sectors, which have a critical role to play in sustaining pro-poor growth. These are : fishery; forest; wildlife and nature-based tourism; soil productivity; water security; minerals; and renewable energy. These key resources with improved management can contribute to sustainable pro-poor growth, thereby, reducing poverty. One of the fastest growing segments is the nature-based tourism that holds high potential, which may even provide employment and income generation opportunities.

 

Whereas exploitation of Natural Resources is a key factor in economic growth and development, yet these have a serious impact on environmental and natural hazards. Vice-versa, natural hazards disrupt Natural Resources to a greater extent. As already mentioned above, most of the Natural Resources are limited, hence over exploitation of such resources may not only deplete the non-renewable ones, but also causes adverse effect, such as deforestation, desertification, extinction of species, forced migration, soil erosion, increase of greenhouse gas, water pollution, forest fire, landslide, etc.

 

 

Theoretically, impacts of natural disasters on Natural Resources and environment can be direct or indirect as well as positive or negative (Israel and Briones, 2013). On the positive side, floods improve soil fertility as they deliver nutrients from uplands to lowlands; and temporarily create a water habitat for fishes and other aquatic animals. In addition, typhoons and floods increase moisture contents in air, and also dilute/clear air pollution. The negative impact, on the other hand, incudes soil erosion, siltation and sedimentation, waste accumulation, water pollution, deformation of land topography, etc. Further, drought results into the low soil fertility and increase in saltwater intrusion.

 

Natural Resources are under threat from different aspects, however, following two are prominent :

 

i) Population Pressure. Ever increasing population is the most significant threat to Natural On one hand, consumption of Natural Resources has considerably increased, and on the other hand, a large part of agriculture land and/or forest land is being curtailed by utilizing for human settlement and respective infra-structure facilities.

 

ii) Environmental Pollution. Modernization in the life style of man-kind has contributed significantly in deteriorating the environment, which has serious repercussions on the habitat of Natural Resources.

 

It is often observed that certain resources are over exploited, and many others are not been able to utilize or under-utilized. For example, forest resources are over utilized leading to environmental and ecological problems, whereas a variety of other resources, particularly mineral and water resources are either under-utilized or still in dormant stage in some States.

 

However, exploitation must be done within the tolerable limits. In this context example of over exploitation of limestone in Mussoorie hills is cited, which resulted into depletion of forest cover and water sources, increased landslide, and caused drastic change in the climatic conditions. It was so much so that Hon’ble Supreme Court had to intervene, who totally banned the mining and subsequently constituted a ‘Green Brigade (Eco-Task Force)’ of the Indian Army to take up the mass afforestation program to restore the beauty, environment and climatic conditions of the region, which has now started showing the results.

 

The resources given by the nature required to be utilized wisely in accordance with the conspicuous balance between present and future needs. These include destruction and degradation of well grown forests, depletion and pollution of water sources, despoliation of land, etc. Simultaneously, mechanism be developed to exploit Natural Resources through scientific and technological interventions in such a way that it does not affect the ecological balance. It is possible through transfer of scientific knowledge about conservation of such resources, particularly non-renewable resources, at grass root level with people participation.

 

The thumb rule for conservation may be Reduce, Recycle and Reuse of Natural Resources.

 

i) Reduce – use limited and avoid wastage of Natural Resources. For example, turn off the lights when not in a room. It will reduce fossil fuel used to make electricity. Ride on bicycle and walk more, to reduce the amount of fuel used in vehicles.

ii) Recycle – certain resources, which may be recycled for use in another form, may be promoted. For example, paper, plastic, glass, metals, etc., can be used again through recycling.

iii) Reuse – certain items may be used directly again and again. For example, plastic or glass jars can be used for storing things in the kitchen.

 

  1. Conclusions

 

The pace of development and processes of economic growth of any region depend upon the extent and intensity of the utilization of niche Natural Resources, which are the heart-line of the region. However, Natural Resources are diminishing rapidly not only due to the increasing pressure of growing population but also by their ruthless exploitation with the passage of time. Non-renewable resources need more attention, which are in fixed quantity. Even some renewable resources may diminish through overutilization or may not be useable, if polluted.

To ensure sustainable growth, Natural Resources need to be used efficiently, equitably and sustainably. Since these are distributed unevenly, it necessitate a detailed and comprehensive inventory of available resources, their evaluation, and planning, so as to conserve them for future generation. Every human

 

 

being should realize the importance of conserving Natural Resources and adopt suitable mitigation measures to preserve these. It may be possible through creating public awareness about the importance, need and sustainable use of Natural Resources in their native language avoiding complex scientific terms.

 

 

  1. References

 

  • Israel, D.C. and Briones, R.M., 2013. Impacts of Natural Disasters on agriculture, food security, and natural resources and environment in the Philippines. ERIA Discussion Paper Series. ERIA Discussion Paper 2013-15, 54 p. http://www.eria.org/ERIA-DP-2013-15.pdf
  • OECD, 2008. Natural Resources and Pro-Poor Growth – The Economics and Politics. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. www.sourceoecd.org/9789264041820
  • Singh, KD, 2002. Development of Natural Resources in Arunachal Pradesh – Prospects and Problems. In : RC Sundriyal, Trilochan Singh and GN Sinha (Eds), Arunachal Pradesh : Environmental Planning and Sustainable Development. HIMAVIKAS Occasional Publication No. 16, pp. 109-115.GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development, Almora. Published by Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun.
  • Singh, Trilochan, 2002. Spatial Database for micro-level planning in Arunachal Pradesh. IN : Proceedings of “Geomatics 2002” – Conference on “IT Enabled Spatial Data Services”, held at Tiruchirappalli, 18th – 20th Sept. 2002. Organised by Indian Society of Geomatics and Centre for Remote Sensing, Bharthidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, pp. 64 – 73.
  • http://www.environmentalpollution.in/natural-resources/natural-resources-meaning-and-classification-of-natural-resources/278.
  • http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/treatment/herbal-medicine.