N a tu ra lR e s o u rc e s in A s ia

Prepared by: Miss Michelle G. Ordovez

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 Asia’s natural resources getting strained by the
development
Asia Pacific countries must maintain their natural capital
such as forests, biodiversity, freshwater, and coastal and marine
ecosystems to achieve a green economy, according to a joint
report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Worldwide
Fund for Nature (WWF). The report entitled, “Ecological
Footprint and Investment in Natural Capital in Asia and the
Pacific” said that the Asia Pacific region is consuming more
resources than its ecosystems can sustain.
It will threatens the future of the region’s beleaguered
forests, rivers, and oceans as well as the livelihoods of those
who depend on them. In the past two decades, the report
noted that the state of ecosystems in the region has been
declining because of the activities such as the conversion of
primary forests to agricultural land or monoculture
plantations; extensive coastal developments and
unsustainable exploitation of marine resources; and
modification of the freshwater ecosystem for agricultural
use.
The joint ADB-WWF study looks in more detail at the
state of ecosystems in Asia-Pacific and what can be done
to sustain them. It focuses on preserving critical large-
scale regional ecosystems, including the forests of Borneo,
the marine wealth of the Coral Triangle, the Mekong
region’s diverse habitats, and the mountainous Eastern
Himalayas. These areas contain some of the region’s most
important natural resources on which millions of people
depend for their sustenance and development.
Nessim Ahmad, ADB director for Environment and Safeguards,
said that significant ecosystems such as the Coral Triangle and
the heart of the Borneo rainforest are vital to the future of Asia-
Pacific. “We need large-scale programmatic efforts based on
regional cooperation and local level action to make sure they
are sustained for future generations,” Ahmad added. The report
explained that by 2008, the per capita natural resources in these
regional ecosystems had shrunk by about two-thirds compared
to 1970.
Despite the rich natural capital in the region, the report noted
that biodiversity is in decline in all types of ecosystems, with
species loss about twice the global average. The information
used the Living Planet Index—one of the more widely used
indicators for tracking the state of biodiversity worldwide—to
measure changes in the health of ecosystems across the Asia-
Pacific. The global index fell by about 30 percent between
1970 and 2008, while the Indo-Pacific region shows an even
more significant decline of 64 percent in critical populations of
species during the same period.
Across the area, the gap between the ecological footprint, or
human demand for natural resources, and the environment’s
ability to replenish those resources is widening, it added. The
report also said that the challenge for countries of Asia Pacific is
to manage their natural sustainability to maintain ecosystem
services such as food, water, timber, pollination of crops, and
absorption of human waste products like carbon dioxide to attain
long-term development.
 “We need to create mechanisms that make protecting our resources the
right economic choice for the communities that use and depend on
them,” said WWF Director General Jim Leape. Investing in the region’s
resources pays. It is estimated that every dollar spent on conservation
efforts would yield an economic and social value of ecosystems worth
over $100, it added. On the other hand, ADB said that it places
environmentally sustainable growth at the core of its work to reduce
poverty in the region. It approved a record 59 projects supporting
environmental sustainability in 2011, which amounted to about $7 billion
in financing.
Written by: Mayvelin U. Carballo, Manila Times Published on: June 07, 2012
The diversity and uniqueness of all life forms that make up
our nature are called biodiversity. Asia, as the largest
continent in the world, is considered the primary source of
global biodiversity. But as Asian countries continue to
thrive, at the same time, ecological and environmental
problems arise due to uncontrollable economic growth and
continue population growth.
 Asian countries today face complex interactions
of social, political, economic, and ecological issues.
The close relationship and reciprocity of each
within a country; and each country’s
interdependence is essential to formulate and
implement appropriate solutions to this problem.
Desertification - this refers to the destruction of land in
regions that are partially dry or extremely dry.
Salinization – it is the increase of salt concentration in
soil and is, in most cases, caused by dissolved salts in the
water supply.
Habitat – it is the natural environment of an organism.
Hinterlands – it is the distant places, far from urbanized
areas.
Ecological Balance – the balanced relationship between
living things and their environment.
Deforestation – this are depletion and loss of trees in
forests.
Siltation - is a process by which water becomes dirty as
a result of fine mineral particles in the water.
Red Tide – are caused by dinoflagellates floating on the
surface of the sea