Amity Institute of Environmental Sciences

Amity Institute of Environmental Sciences

B. Tech. Semester I
Environmental Studies

Module 2: Natural Resources

(Types, Use, Problems & Suggested Measures)

Dr. Kartikeya Shukla

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Natural Resources

Life on this planet earth depends on a variety of goods and

services provided by the nature, which are known as Natural
Resources. Any stock or reserve that can be drawn from nature is
a Natural Resource.

Natural resources are natural assets (raw materials) occurring in

nature that can be used for economic development or
consumption. Water, air, soil, minerals, forest, wildlife all come
under natural resources.
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Natural Resources are divided into two broad category:

Renewable Resources: These resources have the capacity to regenerate themselves

within a given span of time. For example plant and animal species have the capacity
of reproduce so any loss due to natural or artificial causes can be replaced with the
new one. Example of renewable resources are: Forest, wildlife, wind energy, tidal
energy, solar energy, water energy etc.
Non-renewable Resources: For these resources generation time is too long, for
example production of coal, mineral oil, mineral ores takes several thousand years, so
if they exploited on large scale its not easy to replace them. Example of non-
renewable resources are: coal, petroleum, minerals etc.

However renewable resources can also turn into non-renewable

resources if the rate of exploitation or consumption exceeds their
rate of regeneration. e.g. ground water depletion, extinction of
plants and animals, fertile soil , forest etc.
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Problem Associated With Natural Resources

Two major problems have been observed –

 Over-exploitation: leads to depletion and degradation

of natural resources. Example: fish catch, ground
water, forest

 Pollution: resource usefulness reduces. Example: fresh

water, soil
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Major Types of Natural Resources

1) Forest resource
2) Water resource
3) Mineral resource
4) Food resource
5) Energy resource
6) Land resource

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FOREST RESOURCES
These are the most important resource in terms of providing material goods
along with ecological services.
Definition as per various agencies –
 The Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO): Forest is the vegetative
cover which includes a minimum threshold for the height of trees (5 m), at
least 10 per cent crown cover (canopy density deter mined by estimating
the area of ground shaded by the crown of the trees) and a minimum forest
area size (0.5 hectares).
 The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC): 0.01-1.0 hectares for minimum area, 2-5 meters for
minimum tree height and 10-30 per cent for minimum crown cover.
 MOEF: Forest cover in India is defined as all lands, more than one
hectare in area with a tree canopy density of more than 10%.
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World Forest Area

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Climate
How Are Forests Classified?
Temperature (e.g. boreal, temperate, subtropical,
tropical)
Moisture (rain forest, monsoon forests, dry
forests)
Seasonality Deciduous vs. Evergreen
Leafing Strategy Broadleaved vs. Needle-leaved

In total 28 type of forest class are present in the world.

Tropical forest : Asia, Australia, South America, Africa,
Pacific Caribbean
Temperate: North America, Western and Central
Europe, NE Asia
Boreal: Eurasia, Siberia,
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Forest Cover in India

The total forest cover of the country is 690,899 km2 and this
constitutes 21.02 percent of the geographic area of the country.
Very Dense Forest
(tree cover of canopy density of 70%
and above)

Moderately Dense Forest

(tree cover of canopy density
between 40% to 70%)

Open forest
(tree cover of canopy density
between 10% to 40%)

Scrub
(tree cover of canopy less than 10%)
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Uses of Forest Resource

Forest resources are useful in term of goods
(commercial and consumptive) and
environmental services:

CONSUMPTIVE & COMMERCIAL USE

 Timber Extraction: Used for the

construction, industrial uses, paper and pulp
industry etc. Japan is the largest timber
importer in the world and is responsible for
the deforestation in tropical and temperate
forest.

 Fuel wood and charcoal for heating and

cooking purpose: Fuel wood still support
the need of energy in rural part of India.
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Fodder for cattle: India has the largest

livestock population in the world, with 485
million head of livestock, many of them
raised by small and marginal farmers who
depend on grazing land to meet the fodder
requirements of their animals.

Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) or Minor forest produce: Forest are

also an important source of NTFPs which play an important role in the
livelihoods and resilience of rural communities and in some of India’s poorest
regions, NTFPs contribute up to 60 percent of household income.” NTFP
included variety of items – animal products like hides, horns, silk cocoons,
ivory; bamboo and about 3000 plant species even by official definition,
including canes, drugs, spices, fibers, flosses, grasses, gums, resins and
oleoresins, lac, tans, dyes, vegetable oils and oil seeds, leaves, minor minerals
like mica, lime, shells etc., and edible items.
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Environmental Services Provided by Forests

 Production of oxygen: called as earth’s lungs. Produce oxygen
during the photosynthesis process, which is vital for life on this
earth.
 Reducing global warming: green house gas CO2 is absorbed by
forest as a raw material for the photosynthesis.
 Wildlife habitat : Homes of million of wild animal and plant.
Tropical forest alone host 7 million species.
 Watershed Protection: reduce the rate of surface run-off of water,
so prevent the flash flood and soil erosion and also ensure prolonged
run-off so maintaining the water flow in streams and river.
 Soil conservation: due to dense root mat in the forest system soil are
strongly bind thus prevent their erosion due to wind or rain. In the
costal areas mangroves protect land form erosion due to strong ocean
current.
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 Pollution moderator: Forest have the capacity of absorbing

toxic gases and also can also absorb noise thus help in
preventing air and noise pollution.
 Aesthetic importance: Its lush green and pollution free
environment make them a perfect tourist destination. Forests are
now generating large amounts of revenue in various parts of the
globe in response to the development of tourism industry.
 Cultural & religious importance: Many of the tribal
communities consider forests as abode of deities known as
Sacred Grooves. They also worship trees and animals of forests.
Thus, they depend on forests not only for their food and energy
demands, but also for the sustenance of their diverse cultural and
religious beliefs. e.g. Gumpa Forests in Sikkim and Arunachal
Pradesh.
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Problem Associated with Forest Resource

Over exploitation of forest resources: Forest resource in India are over
exploited due to which total forest cover area in India is lower than the
required. Very little Indian forest are pristine due to large scale human
exploitation. Due to this, tropical evergreen forest cover is now confined to
coastal Western Ghats and Northeast India.
Major causes
 Increase in population: The population of India has grown from 361
million in 1951 to 846 million in 1991 and crossed the one billion mark on
11th May, 2000 and would grow further to 1.7 billion by 2050 as per the
UN's long-range projections for India.
 Increase in urban & metropolis areas: As the number of city increase it
increase the demand for the timber for construction and industrial purpose
resulting into degradation of forest resource.
 Increased pace of developmental project: Since independence
development projects such as road construction, mining activity, thermal
power plant were sanctioned in large number which led to depletion of
forest resource.
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Declining per capita availability of forest is an indicator

of decreased rate of regeneration of the vegetative cover.
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DEFORESTATION

As defined by various organizations –

 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
defined it as the direct human-induced conversion of forest
land to non-forest land.

 Food & Agriculture Organization The conversion of forest to

another land use or the long-term reduction of the tree canopy
cover below the minimum 10 percent threshold.
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Causes of Deforestation
 Shifting cultivation: Shifting cultivation, also referred to as forest
agrarian system, has been widely practiced by hill communities in
Asia, Africa, and Latin America since the Neolithic period (13,000
to 3,000 BC). The practice is characterized by a cultivation
phase, which involves clearing of primary or secondary forest and
crop cultivation for one to three years, followed by a fallow
phase, during which cultivation is suspended to allow recovery of
soil fertility. In India this practice is common in North-east,
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
 Growing Food needs: Conversion of forest land to agricultural
land is major cause of deforestation in developing country.
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 Overgrazing: illegal grazing and overgrazing in forest tracks has also
been primarily responsible for forest degradation in India. India's
livestock population has increased from 228 million in 1951 to 336
million in 1992 and is projected to cross 500 million by the end of 2000.
 Raw material for industrial
use: with the increase in
population demand for wood
for making boxes, furniture,
railway-sleeper, plywood,
match-boxes, pulp for paper
industry has increased.
 Development projects:
Massive destruction of forest
occurs for various development
projects such as hydroelectric
projects, big dams, road
construction and mining.
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Major consequences of Deforestation

 Biodiversity loss: forest host large number of plant and animal and
deforestation leads to their extinction due to habitat loss.
 Loss of CO2 sink: due to deforestation the stored carbon in the forest
released into atmosphere which further enhance the global warming
problem.
 Watershed depletion: due to loss of forest area, risk of flash flood
increases, it also reduces the amount of ground water recharge their by
reducing the amount of fresh water.
 Problem of soil erosion and loss of soil fertility increases due to loss of
forest area.

Case studies:
 Desertification in Hilly regions of the Himalayas

 Disappearing tea garden in Chhota Nagpur

 Waning rainfall in Udhagamandalam (Ooty)

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Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980

This act was formulated to check indiscriminate dereservation and diversion of
forest land to non- forest purpose. The main point in this act:
 Prior permission from central government before any forest land is diverted to
non-forest purpose.
 If diversion is permitted, compensatory afforestation is insisted upon. If non-
forest land is available then afforestation be raised over equivalent area of non
forest land. In case of non-availability of non-forest land plantation will be done
degraded forest twice in extent of diverted land.
 Amendment in 1988 for including stricter panel provision against violators

Joint Forest Management (JFM)

National Forest Policy of 1988 formulated the JFM, where local village community
and the forest department work in co-ordination to protect and conserve forest
resource. In the guideline issued in 2000 by MOEF, at least 25% of income from
the area must go to the community . Until 2002, there were 63,618 JFM
committees managing over 140,953sq km of forest in 27 state in India.
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Social forestry:
It includes –
 Creation of woodlots in the village common land, government
waste land and panchayat land (estimated at least 12 mha)

 Planting trees on the side of roads, canals and railways (1 mha)

 Afforestation of degraded government forest in close
proximity to village (10 mha)

 Planting of trees on and around agricultural boundaries and on

marginal, private lands, constituting farm forestry, or agro-
forestry (143 mha).