Essay on Conservation of Natural Resources

Abstract

Earth provides a diverse source of life to all the organisms for their survival which are mentioned as natural resources. Natural resources encompass air, water, soil, metals, energy, and other essential components of life. All the resources are directly or indirectly associated with each other to form a suitable environment for the organisms. Over the last few decades, different types of crises have arisen on the earth, specifically population growth, climatic changes, and biodiversity losses. All these crises are responsible for the depletion of natural resources and the lack of these resources poses serious threats to the entire ecosystem. Numerous biological processes adequately require these resources to run smoothly. Therefore, the protection of these resources is the major requirement of recent times. The term 'Conservation' refers to the protection of natural resources in a diverse manner. Conservation is a process in which a particular organism or object is protected without causing any kind of harm. Conservation of living organisms incorporates two methods which are known as in-situ and ex-situ conservation. In situ conservation is adopted to protect the endangered species of a particular organism in their natural habitat whereas ex-situ conservation is used for the protection of organisms that occur on the verge of extinction. The major objective of this review paper is to analyze the importance of natural resources as well as their conservation criteria for a healthy environment and future generations.

1. Introduction

Natural resources are the essential components of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere that are utilized by humans. These resources often reside in the form of reserve materials in nature. Natural resources are associated with soil, land, minerals, water, and its producers including vegetation, and wildlife, which is beneficial for humans and maintains modern achievements (Andersen and Lorch, 1998). These resources play a crucial role in the economic progress of the country additionally contributing to maintaining the ecological balance (Barbier E.B., 2003). The environment incorporates two types of natural resources namely inorganic and organic sources. Inorganic sources consist of water, air, minerals, metal ores, and stones, whereas living organisms such as microbes, plants, animals, and their products particularly natural gases, coal, food, forest, and wood are affiliated with organic sources. Humans constantly utilize these resources. Certain resources which are not likely to end after consumption are called renewal sources. Furthermore, such sources which are not possible to be renewed or replaced after use, are mentioned as nonrenewal. They include fossils, coal, oil, natural gas, and many metal ores. Conservation of these resources through ecological rules has become essential for obtaining food and other things from plants and animals (Agrawal and Redford 2009). During the last few decades, some natural and man-made calamities like mining, deforestation, hunting as well as flood, drought, climatic changes, etc. are reducing the quantity of these resources and may take them to the brink of extinction. The deficiency of these resources may negatively affect animals, plants as well as mankind also. Moreover, it can also interrupt the chain of ecosystems. Conservation of soil, water, and mineral resources is needed for the day to ensure their sustainable availability for future generations. The primary goals of conservation involve the protection of natural habitats, prohibiting the harvesting of forests, and preventing species extinction. Government laws and prohibitions are not sufficient to conserve all these resources, rather society itself will also have to be aware and contribute significantly in this direction.

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2. Types of Natural Resources

Natural resources fall into the following categories:-

• Mineral resources
• Soil
• Water
• Forest
• Wildlife

2.1 Mineral resources

Earth is typically formed with the help of different rocks and materials. These rocks encompass several mineral substances such as gold, iron, silver, copper, aluminum, etc. Since ancient times, frequent states of India including Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka, Assam, and Gujarat have continuously used these sources to meet their economic needs and mineral requirements (Hlavova I., 2015). After the utilization of resources, they are naturally recycled by various organisms to complete the mineral cycle. In the last few decades, the utilization of minerals has increased due to the continuous enlargement of the population. Therefore, man has now started paying more attention to the conservation of mineral resources. It has been found that a cycle takes thousands of years to complete. Consequently, natural minerals need to be managed periodically by prohibiting indiscriminate mining of minerals.

2.1.1 Conservation of mineral resources

The above-mentioned substances can be eliminated prematurely due to the increasing population as well as the amount of exploitation. To save these substances from extinction, various measures need to be adopted such as petroleum can be used as an alternative to an energy, hydropower, wind energy, nuclear energy, and solar energy. Presently in India gobar gas plants are being used for cooking, electric lighting, and also in industries. Similarly, natural energy sources can be saved by using solar energy in cooking, industries, and other centers.

2.2 Soil

Soil is an important terrestrial factor. The main substances of soil are minerals disintegrated from rocks, substances made from living organisms, water, and air. Soil porousness depends on the size and composition of the mineral particles and water storage capacity is based on the ratio of dissolved organic matter. Soil comprises three major categories namely clay, loam, and sandy soil. All these categories of soil pose benefits for the environment in different manners. The physical and chemical composition of soils has directly or indirectly affected the distribution of various plants and animals as well as many biological functions. The soil above the earth provides a place for plants for their growth. It holds some nutrients that are essential for the development of plants (Kimmins J.P., 1996; Nortcliff S., 2000 ). Therefore, the land should be utilized with proper care. On the contrary, due to improper use of land, the cost of restoration is not only increased but because of this, there is a permanent loss of communities.

2.2.1 Methods of soil conservation

Of the lack of suitable planning for soil conservation, most of the land that should be productive has been converted over to unproductive land (Govers et al., 2017). The successive harvesting of plants resulted in soil erosion and led to several losses so its prevention is highly needed. There are many methods of soil conservation which are as follows -

• (a) Reforestation - Reforestation means an easy method to plant early-growing plants to prevent soil erosion. Planting of such plants should be done in dry soil areas that can bind the soil such as Saccharum munja, Saccharum spontaneum, Cynodon dactylon, etc. In India, the Van Mahotsav is celebrated every year by planting suitable plants to prevent the loss of natural vegetation.
• (b) Contour planting. It is more profitable to walk with a vertical plow or contour planting on the slopes of the hill. Right-angle plowing on the slope does not lead to tillage and soil erosion. Rainwater lasts longer and water is absorbed by the soil (Gachene et al., 2020).
• (c) Contour strip cropping - It is recommended to farm on more steep slopes. Crops should be sown in pellets like legume plants or Legumes which prevents soil erosion. Such land should be left from time to time without sowing and periodic pasture should be planted on it. This prevents soil erosion.
• (d) Terracing - This is also a way to prevent soil erosion. Slope prevents the flow of water and soil. At the same time, it is possible to create a drain on the side of the small field to provide higher water absorption and prevent erosion ((Mekonnen et al., 2015).
• (e) Controlled grazing - Excess grazing on the ground does not make the land fertile. The soil particles get organized due to the hours of animals. The rainwater is not exploited. This causes the soil or ground to dry up. Plants growing below ground become loose due to which the grip of these plants on the soil is ended. Soil erosion is caused by air and water. Therefore, uncontrolled grazing should not be done on the pasture.
• (f) Soil fertility - Fertile soil is helpful for the crop because it provides inorganic and organic substances to the soil. Soil that does not contain minerals and humus is sterile. Manure and chemical fertilizers should be added to increase soil fertility. An easy method for this is crop rotation which maintains the balance of nutrients.

2.3 Water

Water is an essential resource for household, agricultural as well as industrial sectors. There are several fresh aquatic sources found worldwide. The abundance of freshwater is also placed in India. India incorporates a number of rivers originating from the Himalayas namely Brahmaputra, Ganga, Yamuna, Indus, China, Jhelum, Ravi, etc. Apart from rivers, there are many lakes, ponds, and dams associated with aquaculture resources in India, which have an area of about 96 lakh hectares. The requirement for water has increased enormously due to excessive industrialization (Aksungur and Firidin 2008). Shortage of water may directly affect the survival of the entire civilization. Therefore, the conservation of water should be done in a controlled manner and it is necessary to increase water resources in order to avoid drought.

2.3.1 Conservation of water

Water is a quite necessary resource for life and its conservation must be required in recent times as well as for the subsequent period. Certain methods of water conservation are as follows -

• (a) Dams:- Dams are indeed artificial constructions that form a barrier between the source and route of flowing water. It usually generates small reservoirs or lakes that store the overflow of water.
• (b) Rainwater harvesting:- It is a prominent and effective method of water conservation. It acts like the recycling of natural water. Water harvesting is the process of accumulating rainwater directly from the environment, which may be collected for direct use or can be converted into groundwater (Julius et al., 2013).
• (c) Protection of groundwater resources: It is a significant step towards water protection. Groundwater is a huge source and its conservation evolves the prohibition of toxic chemicals that contaminates the water resources including rainwater.

2.4 Forest

Forests cover 31% of the terrestrial area (FAO, 2020). They are found on about 750 lakh hectares of land in India. Forests provide natural habitats for wild animals. Moreover, they also supply fuel, coal, and other useful materials for mankind (Nasi et al., 2011; Akinnifesi et al., 2004). Forest wealth prevents erosion. Clusters of trees do not allow the rapid pace of rainfall to come into direct contact with the soil of the earth, so the soil particles do not crumble. In the absence of forests, the danger of irregular cycles of water, air, and rainfall arises (Bradshaw et al., 2007). The lack of environmental awareness among people has led to indiscriminate deforestation, which has resulted in a shortage of economically important resources (Wajim J., 2020). The risk of soil erosion, landslides, floods, and rain cycles arises from deforestation (Levis et al., 2017). Therefore, the conservation of forests is necessary at the global level.

2.4.1 Methods of Forest Conservation

After realizing the importance of forests, the program of reforestation was created by many countries. Along with the conservation of forests, it is necessary to follow the principles of ecology. Some conservation methods for forests are given below -

1. House-building schemes should be completely banned in forest areas.
2. Indiscriminate cutting and economic exploitation of forests should be prohibited by effective rules and legislation.
3. The plantation of industries in natural forest areas should be banned.
4. In schools and colleges, forest protection and development should be made compulsory and necessary studies as a fixed curriculum.
5. Forest conservation and development programs should be given priority.

2.5 Wildlife Conservation

Animals that cannot be domesticated are mentioned as 'wild animals'. Wildlife is more important for human society including forests. It maintains the ecological balance of the ecosystem. Wildlife conservation is related to hunting productive land and hunting crops. Wildlife also plays a vital role to maintain the economic development of the country along with providing livelihood to thousands of people (Adams et al., 2004). Modernization activities have resulted in excessive loss of Forests as well as wildlife, due to which many species are moving towards or have become extinct. Conservation of forests, nutrition, and maintaining the breeding grounds of wildlife is very important. Some essential steps toward wildlife conservation are as follows -

1. A complete prohibition on the hunting of reproductive and milking animals.
2. The development of sanctuaries for wildlife and the provision of complete livelihood in them.
3. More suitable and necessary improvements and better arrangements in the natural habitats of wildlife.
4. Biosphere reserves should also be marked which preserve the gene pool sources of flora and fauna.

3. Conclusion

All the members of the ecosystem are related to each other in such a way that the earth is considered to be an ecological system whereby all organisms are associated with each other through a large food network. If some sort of pressure is felt to adapt to the natural system, then some relationships which were once damaged or destroyed cannot be restored. Therefore, to maintain the continuity of all natural resources on the basis of ecological rules for human welfare, it is necessary to provide conservation using prudential and prioritize rules in development works. The basic principle of conservation is the optimal use of natural resources. They should not be wasted for the purpose of preserving for future generations.