INTRODUCTION
Many of the big environmental issues for the world in the first decade of the
21st century are also economic and public health issues. More sustainable
use of water, managing marine resources, reducing waste, and improving our
energy efficiency are all essential for creating wealth and quality of life as
well as for environmental sustainability.
Some of the global environmental issues include:
• Global Warming
• Ozone depletion
• Exploitation of natural resources
• Water pollution
• Air Pollution
• Land pollution
• Noise pollution
• Energy conservation , etc
In this report we, have focused our attention on the problem of exploitation of
natural resources.
Definition of Natural Resource
A feature or component of the natural environment that is of value in serving
human needs, e.g. soil, water, wildlife, etc. Some natural resources have an
economic value (e.g. timber) while others have a 'non-economic' value (e.g.
scenic beauty)
Types of Natural Resources
Natural resources can be divided into several categories:
(1) Nature’s Goods
These are the traditional “extractable” resources, e.g.
- Fossil fuels: oil, coal, natural gas
- Metallic ores: iron, copper, silver, gold etc.
- Biological supplies: timber, fisheries, natural rubber
(2) Nature’s Services
These are essential services provided by nature for the continued,
sustainable health and well-being of our environment. These are typically
considered “renewable” resources, e.g.
- Soils for production
- Water and the hydrology cycle
- Air and purification of air
- Global carbon cycle
- Stratospheric ozone shield
(3) Natural Amenities
These are non-essential services provided by nature; may be considered
“quality-of-life” services, e.g.
- Recreation
- Aesthetics
Exploitation of natural resources
Exploitation of natural resources is an essential condition of the human
existence. Throughout history, humans have manipulated natural resources
to produce the materials they needed to sustain growing human populations.
This refers primarily to food production, but many other entities from the
natural environment have been extracted. Often the exploitation of nature
has been done in a non-sustainable way, which is causing an increasing
concern, as a non-sustainable exploitation of natural resource ultimately
threatens the human existence.
Impact of exploitation of natural resources
These are the main impacts of exploitation of natural resources:
• Species extinctions
• Land Resources:
· Deforestation
· Destruction of wetlands
· Desertification
· Soil erosion
· Declining oil and mineral supplies
• Marine Resources:
· Coastal degradation
· Overfishing
• Freshwater Resources:
· Groundwater contamination and depletion
· Surface water shortages
• Atmospheric Resources:
· Ozone Depletion
Root Causes
a. Overpopulation
b. Inefficiency in resource utilisation
c. Overconsumption
d. Poverty
e. Ineffective Structures (Human Institutions, Regulations and
Attitudes)
a. Overpopulation
If you look at Figure 1 you can see how the human population has grown over
time. For centuries our numbers grew relatively little, but then began an
upward climb about 1700. This increase was nothing however compared to
the rise that occurred beginning about 1950. Improved sanitation, better
medical care, and increases in the food supply came together to produce the
rate of growth you see. The Earth’s human population did not pass the 1
billion mark until 1804; it then took 123 years to double to 2 million (in 1927),
then 48 years to double to 4 billion (in 1974), and has now exceeded 6
billion. The earth’s population is projected to grow from its present 6.2 billion
to between 8.5 and 11 billion by the end of the twenty-first century.
Figure1: Human Population Increases through the Centuries
What impact is this population increase having on the quality of the
Earth’s environment?
With respect to the environment, many scientists would argue that there is
no greater single environmental threat than the continued growth of the
human population. The basis for this argument is that population affects so
many environmental issues: the use of natural resources, the amount of
waste that is pumped into the environment daily, the reduction of species
habitat, the decimation of species through hunting and fishing. Look at
almost any environmental problem and you’re likely to find human population
growth playing a part in it.
Note that overpopulation is not simply too many people, but rather, more
people than the earth’s resources can support. Overpopulation may be
defined as excessive population of an area to the point of overcrowding,
depletion of natural resources, or environmental deterioration.
b. Inefficiency in Resource Utilisation
More than 300 million Africans still lack access to safe drinking water and 14
countries on the continent suffer from water scarcity. Out of 55 countries in
the world with domestic water use below 50 litres per person per day (the
minimum requirement set by the World Health Organization), 35 are in Africa.
Meanwhile, Africa has seemingly abundant water resources that are not
being efficiently utilised. With 17 large rivers and more than 160 major lakes,
Africa only uses about 4 per cent of its total annual renewable water
resources for agriculture, industry and domestic purposes. The challenge is
getting water to where it is needed most, affordably and efficiently.
Currently, about 50 per cent of urban water is wasted, as is 75 per cent of
irrigation water.
In many larger cities of Asia and Latin America the total water produced by
utilities is very high, from 200–600 litres per person a day, but up to 70% is
lost to leaks.
c. Overconsumption
In the U.S. today, there are more private vehicles on the road than people
licensed to drive them; indeed, about one-quarter of the world's cars are
found on U.S. roads. New houses in the U.S. were 38 percent bigger in 2000
than in 1975, despite having fewer people in each household on average.
Such consumption patterns help explain why, with only 4.5 percent of the
world's population, the U.S. accounts for some 25 percent of global
greenhouse gas emissions widely understood to contribute to global
warming. The average U.S. citizen currently consumes five times more
energy than the average global citizen, ten times more than the average
Chinese, and 20 times more than the average Indian, according to the 30th
annual edition of Worldwatch Institute's
d. Poverty and Other Socioeconomic Problems
Conventional thinking on poverty and environment includes assumptions that
are increasingly being called into question:
- Poverty needs to be eradicated in developing countries before they
can turn their attention to environmental protection; and
- Poverty and environment are linked in a "downward spiral" in which
poor people forced to overuse environmental resources for their daily
survival are further impoverished by the degradation of these
resources. Population growth and economic change are also seen to
contribute to this process.
In addition, many of the environmental problems that have been identified in
the international arena as the world’s most pressing are not those that affect
poor people in developing countries most severely. For example, lack of
sanitation and clean water (rather than issues that preoccupy developed
countries, such as ozone depletion and global warming) – are arguably the
worst environmental problems in the developing world.
Many donors and policy-makers (especially since the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development, UNCED) have begun to
embrace more localized, community-based approaches to natural resource
management and sustainable development. This approach is informed by an
understanding that the various groups in a society often experience
environmental problems in very different ways.
e. Ineffective Structures (Human Institutions, Regulations
and Attitudes)
Considering the potential of new technology and the accompanying advances
in science, it is possible to foresee a world in which a relatively stable human
population can live at a high level of material affluence, with wild nature
continuing to exist in abundance and relatively undisturbed lands available
for human enjoyment. But this optimistic point of view is not supported by
existing world conditions.
Because knowledge now available is more than adequate to solve most of
the world's major environmental problems, the problems are not those of
science and technology but of the arrangements and functioning of human
institutions and of the attitudes of individuals.
Thus, while research in science continues in all the universities and other
schools of the world, tropical forests and coral reefs are being devastated in
ways that suggest that the science of these natural objects are still unknown.
Although the techniques for managing livestock have reached a high level of
sophistication, overexploitation continues around most of the world's major
pasturelands, deserts and oceans, and animals die of hunger, people suffer
from deprivation, and the deserts spread. Obviously, the knowledge available
does not reach or influence the behaviour of most of the people on our
planet.
A key point is the failure of most societies to exercise adequate controls over
land, water, and other resource use. Effective means for controlling land use
do not exist in most countries; laws and regulations that permit governments
to exercise such control, when existent, often cannot be enforced because of
strong public resentment and resistance.
How can natural resources be managed sustainably?
Category Action Management
Ecosystem Strategies for conservation Sustainable harvesting of wild
Preservation of biodiversity and the plant and animal species,
genetic resource
Protected areas, national
parks, wildlife reserves, gene
banks
Conservation strategies International organizations
and legislation e.g. UNEP, IUCN, WWF, CITES
Local environmental
organizations e.g. NEPA, JET,
JCDT, EFJ
Population Strategies for managing Family planning, improved
Management population growth health and education, national
policies
Strategies for managing Planning, environmental
the urban and rural improvement, community
environments participation
Strategies for overcoming Improved trade and aid
world inequalities conditions, governmental and
non-governmental aid, food
aid
Managing tourism National Parks, ecotourism
Land Strategies for soil Tree planting, terracing,
Resources conservation contouring, windbreaks,
Management community participation
Sustainable forest Agroforestry, mixed tree
management techniques planting, reforestation,
sustainable harvesting of
hardwoods, fuel/fire wood
planting
Alternatives to more efficient use of timber,
deforestation recycling (paper/timber),
alternative materials to
timber; alternative materials
for “yam sticks”
Constraints in Resource Management
1. To date, resources have been exploited under customary systems and
have appeared to be limitless. In the new context of resource depletion
and population pressures, new attitudes need to be developed, to allow
for sustainable use of our natural resources.
While problems and issues are well recognised and there is some increase
in community concern over sustainable resource use in many countries, in
most cases, unfortunately, there is no perceived need to address the
problems and issues involved and no sense of urgency to find and
implement solutions. The values of natural resource stocks are not
quantified in economic terms. At the grassroots community level, many
resources are still perceived as “free” and “without limit.” There is a lack
of public awareness, of the potential scarcity of the resources involved.
Partly resulting from this lack of knowledge or awareness, and hence lack
of pressure, resources are being liquidated for immediate economic gain
rather than being managed sustainably.
3. A second and difficult constraint in developing and maintaining
sustainable natural resource management techniques is the limitation of
manpower to enforce environmental laws and regulations.
4. Lack of funding to tackle unsustainability.
5. Financial and social pressures. Population concentration and economic
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pressures may make resource management more difficult.
Possible Actions for Natural Resource Management
Management is not about the provision of a ready-made list of solutions.
Rather it is about the creation of a framework or environment, which enables
the assessment of issues. This requires close consultation with the local
population, and the development (and continual revision or improvement) of
effective strategies and plans to maintain the balance between resource
usage and conservation.
The practice of sustainable resource management should take place mostly
at the local community level by those using the resources, rather than by
officials who may have little or no direct involvement with the community.
Often local communities have not been involved or consulted in the resource
planning process. In future, opportunities must be provided for local or
village communities to develop/acquire knowledge and appreciation of the
benefits of conserving and managing resources, and to evaluate for
themselves the relative costs and benefits of different uses.
The most important factor determining whether individuals or communities
will manage natural resources sustainably is whether or not they perceive
that it is in their interest to do so. This also applies to landowners, who
should also be closely involved in discussions on more sustainable
management.
(1) Involving resource owners
Action both at national and regional level is essential to involve those who
have a stake in resources, in the research, planning, and management
process. Actions could involve the following:
• Ensuring that local communities, are well represented in
national planning bodies or at least kept informed of, and invited
to contribute to the planning process
• Seeking comments and inputs from local communities on
draft strategies and programmes
• Creating a mechanism by which communities can assess
their own performance and share experience and knowledge
with others
(2) Raising awareness and promoting knowledge
Programmes need to be implemented and maintained to fully inform
communities about the value of resources. Actions could involve the
following:
· Utilising the media to promote awareness of benefits and costs,
using professional communicators sensitive to local communities
· Integrating environmental education into school curricula- especially
primary schools
(3) Institutional Arrangements
· National Leadership
Sustainable management of natural resources is essentially a local and
national responsibility, since the issues and actions to be taken are
addressed in each country.
Commitment of the wider community to national programmes is
granted only when the government uses resources sustainably and
applies good governance. Good governance implies that actions and
initiatives are made known in advance to the general public, that
different social groups be represented at national and local decision-
making. If government bodies are perceived as wasteful or
irresponsible in their use of the resources, communities will naturally
adopt a similar attitude.
References
• Exploitation of Natural Resources
http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/modsr/03229570.html
• Free Definition
http://www.free-definition.com/Exploit-(natural-resources).html
• Biodiversity Web Roots of Biodiversity loss
http://www.biodiversity.nl/structures.htm
• The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Ed.
http://dictionary.reference.com/
• World Water Council
http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/Vision/Documents/Chapter2.pdf
• The World Revolution Global Overconsumption Unsustainable,
Threatens People and Planet
http://www.worldrevolution.org/article/1088
• A Programme for Sustainable Development in the South Pacific
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/SUSTDEV/DOdirect/DOEngC06.htm
