Introduc)on

 and  classifica)on  of  

natural  resources  

Dr.  Muhammad  Zafar  Khan  

Lecture  1:  NRM  

BS  VII/MSc  III  
March  7  2018  
 Introduc)on  to  NRs  
• Natural  resource  is  any  naturally  occurring  substance  or  
feature  of  the  environment  (physical  or  biological)  that,  
while  not  created  by  human  effort,  can  be  exploited  by  
humans  to  sa)sfy  their  needs  or  wants.  
• They  include  all  of  the  Earth’s  organisms,  air,  water,  soil  as  
well  as  material  such  as  coal,  oil,  and  ore  that  are  removed  
from  the  ground.  

• Two  condi)ons:    
– 1)  naturally  exis)ng  ((deer  vs  gene)cally  engineered  bacteria)  
– 2)  exploit  by  humans  to  directly  sa)sfy  human  needs  of  wants  
• Some  authori)es  hold  that  for  a  substance  or  
feature  to  be  classified  as  a  natural  resource,  it  
must  offer  poten)al  or  actual  economic  value,  
crea)ng  wealth.  
• "“any  material  in  its  na)ve  state  which  when  
extracted  has  economic  value.”  (Black’s  Law  
Dic)onary,  1990).  
• Resources  such  as  oil,  coal,  wood,  water  power,  
and  arable  land  clearly  can  be  seen  as  providing  
poten)al  economic  value.  
• Like  climate  of  an  area,  trees  grown  in  a  Park  
• Others  do  not  limit  the  term  to  those  
resources  having  economic  product  value,  but  
also  include  supplying  a  non-­‐economic  value.  
• "a  complex  of  interrelated  elements  exis)ng  
in  a  state  of  ecological  balance,  which  must  be  
preserved  for  life  to  survive  on  the  planet”  
• E.g.  a  wetland,  if  not  in  direct  use  but  s)ll  
benefits  human  needs  by  providing  ecosystem  
funca)ons  and  services.  
A  natural  resource  industry  is  one  in  which  the  
primary  ac)vity  involves  extrac)on  and/or  
purifica)on  of  the  natural  resource,  instead  of  
crea)on  of  the  commodity.  Examples  of  natural  
resource  industries  include  crude  oil  extrac)on  
and  processing,  fishing,  and  forestry.    
 
Agriculture  is  not  considered  a  natural  resource  
industry  (Agri  crops  are  not  naturally  exis)ng….)  
 Examples  of  natural  resources  
• Fossil  fuels  (petroleum,  natural  gas,  coal)  
• Minerals  (diamonds,  gold,  copper,  silver)  
• Natural  vegeta)on,  forests,  )mber  
• Animals  (salmon,  whales,  deer,  ibex,  etc.)  
• Air,  wind  
• Water,  water  power,  wetlands,  watercourses,  
lakes  
• Sunlight  
• Soil,  topsoil  
Classifica)on  of  NRs  
 Renewable  versus  non-­‐renewable  
Renewable  natural  resources:    
• Renewable  resources  are  those  physical  or  bio)c  resources  
that  are  used  by  people  but  can  be  replenished  in  a  )mely  
manner.    

• that  can  regrow,  or  whose  supplies  can  be  replenished  

through  natural  processes.    

• For  example,  forests,  fish  stocks  (such  as  salmon  or  tuna),  
water,  and  agricultural  crops  can  be  replenished  over  )me,  
with  forests  taking  a  longer  )me  than  fish  or  water,  and  
agricultural  crops  replenished  over  a  short  )me  period.  
Renewable  resources  can  further  be  sub-­‐divided  into  
two  addi)onal  categories:  
 
Plen1ful.  This  sub-­‐category  includes  those  natural  
resources  that  are  plen)ful  and  con)nuously  available;  
they  are  not  affected  by  human  consump)on.  Examples  
include  sunlight  (solar  energy),  air,  and  wind.  
 
Limited.  This  sub-­‐category  includes  those  natural  
resources  that  are  limited  and  can  be  depleted  by  
human  use,  but  also  can  be  replenished  or  reproduced  
rela)vely  quickly.  Examples  include  animal  life  (fish,  
deer,  etc.),  plants,  agricultural  crops,  water,  and  forests.  
Non-­‐renewable  natural  resources.    
Non-­‐renewable  resources  are  those  limited  in  
amount  that  cannot  be  replenished  in  a  )mely  
manner  or  feasibly  and  are  essen)ally  irreplaceable  
once  extracted.    
 
For  example,  minerals  and  fossils  fuels  are  formed  
over  very  long  geologic  periods.  Since  their  rate  of  
forma)on  is  very  slow,  they  cannot  be  replenished  
once  they  get  depleted.  
 
Examples  of  non-­‐renewable  natural  resources  
include  petroleum,  natural  gas,  gold,  silver,  
diamonds,  and  copper.  
 Bio)c  versus  abio)c  
Bio1c  natural  resources.      
• Bio)c  natural  resources  are  those  obtained  from  living  
sources,  such  as  from  trees  and  their  products  (apples  ,  
coconuts,  )mber,  etc.),  agricultural  crops,  birds  and  their  
products  (feathers  ,  meat,  etc.),  fish,  marine  organisms,  
and  so  forth.  
•  In  addi)on,  fossil  fuels    such  as  coal    and  petroleum  are  
classified  as  bio)c  because  they  derive  from  organic  
macer,  with  coal  believed  to  have  formed  from  land  
plants  and  petroleum  from  plankton.  
Abio1c  natural  resources.    
• Abio)c  natural  resources  are  those  obtained  from  non-­‐
living  sources.  For  example,  minerals  (gold,  copper,  silver,  
iron,  etc.),  as  well  as  air,land  and  water,  are  classifed  as  
abio)c  natural  resources.