MANAGEMENT OF

NATURAL RESOURCES
-BY ANANSHIYA JOSE
-10A
-ISB11639
-INDIAN SCHOOL BOUSHER
-TOPIC:SUMMARY OF MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
 Anything in the environment which can be used is called a natural resource.
 Natural Resources includes total natural environment that support human life
and contribute to the production of necessities and comforts to mankind. So
natural resources are the components of atmosphere, hydrosphere and
lithosphere.
 Types of Natural Resources: On the basis of abundance and availability, the
natural resources are of two types
• Inexhaustible.
• Exhaustible.
 (a) Inexhaustible: These are in plenty and cannot be exhausted by man’s
consumption. For example; air, sand, clay etc. It gets affected by the over-
population of mankind.
(b) Exhaustible: These are limited and can get exhausted over a period of time,
i.e., coal, petroleum etc.
 A system of controlling the use of natural resources in such a way, as to avoid
their wastage and to use them in the most effective way is called management of
natural resources.
 Why do we Need to Manage Our Natural Resources: We need to manage our
natural resources because of the following reasons :
• The resources of the earth are limited. Because of the rapid increase in human
population,
the demand for resources is increasing day-by-day. The proper management can
ensure that the natural resources are used judiciously, so that they fulfill the
needs of present generation and also last for the generations to come. –
• The proper management of natural resources takes into consideration long-term
perspective (or view) and prevents their exploitation to hilt for short-term gains.
• The proper management can ensure equitable distribution of natural resources
so that all the people can benefit from the development of these resources.
• The proper management will take into consideration the damage caused to the
environment during the ‘extraction’ or ‘use’ of the natural resources and find ways
and means to minimise this damage.
 Conservation of Wildlife: It is very important to conserve wild-life to maintain the
ecological balance in nature and to preserve the gene pool. Some of the measures
(or steps) to be taken for the conservation of wildlife are given below:
• Laws should be made to impose a total ban on the poaching (killing) or capturing
of any animal or bird belonging to an endangered species.
• The natural habitats of wild animals and birds should be preserved by establishing
National Parks and Sanctuaries throughout the country.
• The Government Department connected with the conservation of wildlife should
conduct a periodic survey in all the forests, National parks and Sanctuaries to
have knowledge of the population of all species of wild animals and birds.
• Special attention should be paid to the conservation of endangered species of
wild animals and birds to prevent their extinction altogether.
• The unauthorized felling (cutting) of forest trees for timber trade and fuel-wood
should be curbed (stopped) immediately.
 Sustainable Management: Management of forest resources wisely to make it
available for future generations.
To consider the conservation of forests, we need to look at the stakeholders who
are :
• The people who live in or around forests are dependent on forest products for
various aspects of their life.
• The Forest Department of the Government which owns the land and controls the
resources from forests.
• The industrialists—from those who use ‘tendu’ leaves to make bidis to the ones
with papermills who use various forest produce.
• The wild life and nature enthusiasts who want to conserve nature in its pristine
form.
A major program called silviculture has been started to replenish the forests by
growing more trees and plants.
 Conservation of forests: It is carried out by the following methods
• Afforestation: It is growing of forests on unprotected barren lands. Van
Mahotsava is a tree plantation movement carried out twice a year (February and
July) by both government and voluntary agencies.
• Reforestation: It is developing forest cover in the area which has been damaged or
cleared during exploitation.
• Separation of Commercial Forestry: Useful plants required by industry should be
planted separately preferably on waste land. Growing industry required plants is
called production plantation.
• Grazing: Grazing should be regulated according to the availability of pasturage.
Deforestation: Removal, decreases or deterioration of forest cover of an area is
called deforestation.
 Effects of Deforestation
• Soil Erosion: Removal of plant cover exposes the fertile soil to wind and water.
The latter remove the top soil and make the area infertile.
• Desertification: Removal of forest cover in the plains makes the area dry. In hot
season, the soil becomes loose. Air currents take away the fine soil particles
leaving behind sand.
• Floods: In rainy season many temporary rivulets are formed due to loss of
absorption capacity by unprotected soil. The rivulets produce floods in low land
causing loss to agriculture, property and life.
• Destruction of wildlife: Deforestation leads to destruction of natural habitats of
wild animals and plants. Wildlife is, therefore, destroyed.
• Climatic Changes: In the absence of forest cover, the summer becomes hotter
while the winters become extra cool. The frequency of rainfall decreases.
 National Award for Wildlife Conservation: The Govt, of India, has recently
instituted an ‘Amrita Devi Bishnoi National Award for wildlife conservation in the
memory of Amrita Devi, who in 1931 sacrificed her life along with 363 other for the
protection ‘Khejri Trees’ in Kherali Village near Jodhpur in Rajasthan.

 Chipko Andolan: Movement originated in Garhwal in early 1970’s that was the

result of a grassroot level effort to end the alienation of people from their forest.
Thus, Chipko Movement (i.e., chipko Andolan) is the tree hugging movement, in
which the villagers compel the axeman to stop tree felling by embracing and
forming ring (circle) around the marked trees. Example : Protection of Sal Forest in
West Bengal in 1972.
 Water as a Resource
• Water is a basic necessity for all terrestrial forms of life. Regions of water scarcity
are closely
related to the regions of acute poverty.
• Failure to sustain water availability has resulted in loss of vegetation cover,
diversion for high water demanding crops and pollution from industries and,
urban wastes and less rain.
• Irrigation methods like dams, tanks should be used in various part of India.
 Forests: Forests are important renewable natural resources dominated mainly by
trees forming a sort of canopy, they are essential for the ecological balance of all
ecosystems. They maintain the biological ecosystem.

 Water Harvesting: Aim is to develop primary resources of land and water and to

produce secondary resources of plants and animals for use in a manner which will
not cause ecological imbalance.
 Pollution of Water: The pollution of water is caused by the dumping of untreated
sewage and industrial wastes into it.
The contamination of river water can be usually found from two factors :
• the presence of coliform bacteria in river water, and
• measurement of pH of river water.

• Gangs Action Plan (GAP): Muticrore project came in 1985 to improve the quality
of Ganga. Ganga Action Plan (GAP) was formulated to reduce the pollution load of
river Ganga by more than 75%. The water quality has been tested from time-to-
time by checking coliform (a group of harmless bacteria in human intestine)
number/100 ml.
Accordingly, a survey was conducted and data was collected for total coliform (a
group of bacteria found in human intestine) between 1993-1994 which was as
below:
 Coal and Petroleum Conservation: Coal and petroleum are fossil fuels found in
earth’s
crust. They are non-renewable and exhaustible resources.
1. Coal: Coal is combustible fossilized rock derived from a large accumulation of
plant remains that is gradually compressed. Coal is used for cooking, heating, in
industry and thermal power plants.
2. Petroleum: Petroleum is another fossil fuel that occurs in the form of liquid oil.
It has been formed in the past (about 10 to 20 crore years old) from plant and
animal remains and occur in the form of mineral oil in sedimentaiy rocks.
Petroleum is mainly used as fuel for transport, agricultural operations, generators
and some industries.
 Three R’s to save the environment.
• Reduce: It means we should minimise our use of natural resources, sources of
energy and food materials.
• Recycle: It means that we should collect materials like paper, plastics, glass
and metal items. These waste materials should be recycled to obtain these
materials again for use.
• Reuse: In this strategy, we should be encouraged to use things again and again
instead of throwing them away. For example, plastic bottles those we get with
jams and pickle can be reused for storing things in the kitchen.
 Stakeholders of forest:
• People living in or around forest: They depend on forest produce for their
living.
• The forest Department of the Government : Which owns the land and controls
the resources from forests.
• The industrialists : Who use various forest produce as raw material, but are not
dependent on the forest in any orie area.
• The wildlife and nature enthusiasts: Who want to conserve nature in its pristine
form.