MEANING:

Natural resources (economically referred to as land or raw materials) occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity existent in various ecosystems.

Natural resources are derived from the environment. Many of them are essential for our survival while others are used for satisfying our wants. Natural resources may be further classified in different ways.

Classification:

On the basis of origin, resources may be divided into:

Biotic - Biotic resources are the ones which are obtained from the biosphere. Forests and their products, animals, birds and their products, fish and other marine organisms are important examples. Minerals such as coal and petroleum are also included in this category because they were formed from decayed organic matter.

Abiotic - Abiotic resources comprise of non-living things. Examples include land, water, air and minerals such as gold, iron, copper, silver etc.

Considering their stage of development, natural resources may be referred to in the following ways:

Potential Resources - Potential resources are those which exist in a region and may be used in the future. For example, mineral oil may exist in many parts of India having sedimentary rocks but till the time it is actually drilled out and put into use, it remains a potential resource.
Actual Resources are those which have been surveyed, their quantity and quality determined and are being used in present times. For example, the petroleum and the natural gas which is obtained from the Bombay High Fields. The development of an actual resource, such as wood processing depends upon the technology available and the cost involved.

That part of the actual resource which can be developed profitably with available technology is called a reserve.

With respect to renewability, natural resources can be categorized as follows:

Renewable Resources - Renewable resources are the ones which can be replenished or reproduced easily. Some of them, like sunlight, air, wind, etc., are continuously available and their quantity is not affected by human consumption. Many renewable resources can be depleted by human use, but may also be replenished, thus maintaining a flow. Some of these, like agricultural crops, take a short time for renewal; others, like water, take a comparatively longer time, while still others, like forests, take even longer.

Non-renewable Resources - Non-renewable resources are formed over very long geological periods. Minerals and fossils are included in this category. Since their rate of formation is extremely slow, they cannot be replenished once they get depleted. Out of these, the metallic minerals can be re-used by recycling them. But coal and petroleum cannot be recycled.

Examples:

Some examples of natural resources include the following:

*Agriculture—Agronomy is the science and technology of using plants for food, fuel, feed, and fiber.

*Air, wind and atmosphere

*Plants / Flora

*Animals / Fauna

*Wildlife

*Coal and Fossil fuels

*Forestry & Agroforestry

*Range and Pasture

*Soils

*Water, Oceans, Lakes and Rivers

Uses of our Natural Resources :

Rock and mineral resources have a wide variety of uses and play a huge role in our lives The Mineral Information Institute has a poster showing how much of a variety of minerals each person uses in his or her lifetime.

Minerals are important to our health. We need small amounts of a wide variety of minerals. Minerals found in Tennessee which people need include: calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, copper, fluoride, iron, and zinc.

Coal, oil and natural gas provide us with almost all of the energy we use to light, heat and run our world.

Minerals are ingredients in almost all of the products we use from fertilizer to plastics, from toothpaste to kitty litter, from knives to plates.

Minerals are common ingredients in pigments. In fact, some of the earliest uses of minerals were as pigments.

Minerals also play an important role in the processing of materials. Bentonite is important in well drilling, Barite is important in oil drilling. Fluorite is important in making steel

Resource How are our resources used? (characteristics exploited)

Barite Used in oil drilling to weigh down the oil and prevent gushers (high specific gravity), filler in paint, glass, toothpaste.

Chert Used to make stone tools. (hardness, fracture patterns). Used as fill to provide a stable base for roads (insolubility)

Clay Used to make pottery and bricks. Used for pet litter (ability to absorb water) Chalcopyrite (copper)

Copper is used to make electrical wiring (electrical conductivity).

Used in alloys - bronze and brass (low melting point, beauty, resistance to oxidation) Used as an ingredient in pigments (blue and green) Coal Used as a fuel (flammable). The oils and tars produced processing coal are processed into a variety of organic solvents and compounds such as plastics, motor fuel, photo developer, perfume, medicine, and sugar substitute.

Fluorite Used as a flux - i.e. used as an intermediate chemical to separate metals from waste material. Another important product made from fluorite is hydrofluoric acid, which is used in the pottery, optics, and plastics industry. Fluorite is also used in making opalescent glass and in enameling cookware. Galena (lead)

The largest use of lead is in automotive batteries. It is also used as weights (high specific gravity). Used as an ingredient in solder (soft, low melting point.). Until recently it was also used as an ingredient in paint and as an additive in gasoline to make engines run more smoothly.

Gypsum is primarily used to make wallboard. It is also an ingredient in cement.

Ilmenite (titanium)Titanium is used in alloys to make strong light-weight materials - space ships, bicycles Used to make white paint - non-toxic replacement for lead, which used to be used for this purpose. (low reactivity)

Iron is used for tools, for appliances, for building supports. It is also used as a pigment (red and ochre) Limestone Limestone is used as building stone, for ornamental stone for surfaces and sculpture, to make cement and mortar, as crushed stone for fill Mussel Shells Mussel shells were used as ceremonial objects. European Americans have used shells as ornaments - buttons and pearls for jewelry.

Oil/Natural Gas Oil and natural gas are used as fuels and ingredients in the chemical industry to produce petroleum based products notably plastics. Phosphate Phosphate is used as a fertilizer and to make phosphoric acid which is a major ingredient in food products such as cola drinks.

Saltpeter was used as a fertilizer (source of nitrogen) and as an ingredient in gunpowder. It has now been replaced by the related compound ammonium nitrate which can be manufactured in the laboratory.

Sand & Gravel Sand and gravel are used as fill to provide a stable foundation for buildings and roads. Sandstone Sandstone is used as a building material.

Sphalerite (zinc) Zinc is used as an ingredient in brass (with copper). It is used to coat (galvanize) iron implements to protect them from rusting. It is used as a pigment (white)

Protection:

Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction. It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on sciences, economics, and the practice of natural resource management. The term conservation biology was introduced as the title of a conference held University of California at San Diego in La Jolla, California in 1978 organized by biologists Bruce Wilcox and Michael Soulé.

Habitat conservation is a land management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore, habitat areas for wild plants and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms of any one ideology.