Overview
Sustainable Management of Natural Resources closes the Class 10 science course by asking what should be done with everything the other chapters have described. It begins with the question of why resources need managing at all, and answers that they are limited, that with a rapidly increasing human population the demand on them rises steadily, and that management must therefore take a long-term perspective, ensure equitable distribution so that resources do not fall into the hands of a few wealthy people, and plan for the safe disposal of the wastes that using them produces. It sets out the three Rs - reduce, recycle and reuse - and argues that reuse is in fact better than recycling because recycling itself uses energy. The chapter then works through four resources in turn. Forests are examined through their stakeholders: the people who live in or near forests and depend on them, the Forest Department that owns and controls them, the industrialists who use forest produce as raw material, and the wildlife and nature enthusiasts who wish to conserve them; and it shows through the Chipko Andolan and through the revival of the Arabari sal forest that involving local people is not sentimentality but the most effective conservation strategy known. Water is examined through dams, with their benefits and their three sets of problems - social, economic and environmental - and through the traditional water harvesting systems of India, from the khadins and tankas of Rajasthan to the eris of Tamil Nadu and the surangams of Kerala. It ends with coal and petroleum, the fossil fuels whose known reserves are finite.
Learning Objectives
- Explain why natural resources need to be managed and state the three considerations in managing them.
- Explain the three Rs and why reuse is better than recycling.
- Define sustainable development.
- Identify the four stakeholders in forest resources and describe the interest of each.
- Describe the Chipko Andolan and explain what it demonstrated.
- Describe the Arabari experiment and explain why involving local people succeeded.
- State the advantages of large dams.
- Explain the social, economic and environmental problems caused by large dams.
- Describe traditional water harvesting systems in different parts of India.
- Explain the advantages of storing water underground rather than in surface reservoirs.
- Explain why coal and petroleum need to be used judiciously.
Topics in this chapter
4 topics · tap a topic title to jump straight to it.
Why Manage Our Resources?
The three considerations
Why do we need to use our resources carefully? Because these are not unlimited and with the human population increasing at a tremendous rate due to improvement in health-care, the demand for all resources is increasing at an exponential rate.
The management of natural resources requires a long-term perspective so that these will last for the generations to come and will not merely be exploited to the hilt for short-term gains.
This management should also ensure equitable distribution of resources so that all, and not just a handful of rich and powerful people, benefit from the development of these resources.
Another factor to be considered while planning for the management of natural resources is the damage caused to the environment during their extraction or use. For example, mining causes pollution because of the large amount of slag which is discarded for every tonne of metal extracted. Hence, sustainable natural resource management demands that we plan for the safe disposal of these wastes too.
The three Rs
- Reduce: This means that you use less. You can save electricity by switching off unnecessary lights and fans. You can save water by repairing leaky taps. You can reduce the wastage of food.
- Recycle: This means that you should collect plastic, paper, glass and metal items and recycle these materials to make required things instead of synthesising or extracting fresh plastic, paper, glass or metal. In order to recycle, we first need to segregate our wastes so that the material that can be recycled is not dumped along with other wastes.
- Reuse: This is actually even better than recycling because the process of recycling uses some energy. In the 'reuse' strategy, you simply use things again and again. Instead of throwing away used envelopes, you can reverse it and use it again. The plastic bottles in which you buy various food-items like jam or pickle can be used for storing things in the kitchen.
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is development which meets the current basic human needs while preserving the resources for the needs of future generations. It encourages forms of growth that meet current basic human needs, while preserving the resources for the needs of future generations.
- Three considerations: a long-term perspective, equitable distribution, and safe disposal of the wastes produced by extraction and use.
- Reuse beats recycling because recycling itself consumes energy.
- Mining discards a large amount of slag for every tonne of metal extracted - the damage caused during extraction must be planned for.
Forests and Wildlife: The Stakeholders
Biodiversity hot spots
Forests are 'biodiversity hot spots'. One measure of the biodiversity of an area is the number of species found there. However, the range of different life forms (bacteria, fungi, ferns, flowering plants, nematodes, insects, birds, reptiles and so on) is also important.
One of the main aims of conservation is to try and preserve the biodiversity we have inherited. Experiments and field studies suggest that a loss of diversity may lead to a loss of ecological stability.
Four stakeholders
- The people who live in or around forests are dependent on forest produce for various aspects of their life. Their needs are diverse - firewood, small timber and thatch, bamboo for baskets, implements for agriculture, fishing and hunting, fruits, nuts and medicines. Herbs used as medicines are found here. And they have traditionally protected the forest, taking only what they need.
- The Forest Department of the Government which owns the land and controls the resources from forests. After the British took control, large tracts of forest were cleared, and the forests were converted into monocultures of pine, teak or eucalyptus. Local knowledge and local needs were ignored.
- The industrialists - from those who use 'tendu' leaves to make bidis to the paper mills - who use various forest produce, but are not dependent on the forests in any one area. They are not interested in the sustainability of the forest in one particular area.
- The wild life and nature enthusiasts who want to conserve nature in its pristine form.
Why the third group matters most
Notice the phrase used of the industrialists: not dependent on the forests in any one area. That is the whole problem. A community that lives beside a forest suffers directly if the forest is destroyed; a company that can move to the next forest does not. Sustainability follows dependence.
Chipko Andolan
The 'Chipko Andolan' ('Hug the Trees Movement') was the result of a grassroot level effort to end the alienation of people from their forests. The movement originated from an incident in a remote village called Reni in Garhwal, high up in the Himalayas during the early 1970s.
There was a dispute between the local villagers and a logging contractor who had been allowed to fell trees in a forest close to the village. On a particular day, the contractor's workers appeared in the forest to cut the trees while the men folk were absent. Undeterred, the women of the village reached the forest quickly and clasped the tree trunks thus preventing the workers from felling the trees. Thus thwarted, the contractor had to withdraw.
The Chipko movement quickly spread across communities and media, and forced the government to rethink their priorities in the use of forest produce. Deforestation not only destroyed the forest but destroyed the quality of soil and the sources of water.
Arabari: what participation achieved
The Arabari forest range of Midnapore district in West Bengal is a striking example of the involvement of local communities. Here the forest department's 'Beat officer' A.K. Banerjee involved the villagers in the protection of 1,272 hectares of badly degraded sal forest.
In return for help in protection, villagers were given employment in both silviculture and harvesting operations, 25 per cent of the final harvest, and allowed fuelwood and fodder collection on payment of a nominal fee.
With the active and willing participation of the local community, the sal forests of Arabari underwent a remarkable recovery - by 1983, a previously worthless forest was valued Rs 12.5 crores.
- The four stakeholders: local people, the Forest Department, industrialists, and wildlife and nature enthusiasts.
- Chipko began at Reni in Garhwal in the early 1970s, when the village women clasped the tree trunks and forced the contractor to withdraw.
- At Arabari, 1,272 hectares of degraded sal forest recovered so completely that by 1983 it was valued at Rs 12.5 crores.
Water for All: Dams and Their Problems
Why dams were built
Large dams can ensure the storage of adequate water not just for irrigation, but also for generating electricity. Canal systems leading from these dams can transfer large amounts of water great distances.
For example, the Indira Gandhi Canal has brought greenery to considerable areas of Rajasthan.
The three sets of criticism
However, mismanagement of the water has largely led to benefits being reaped by a few. There has been a marked change in the cropping pattern, since those closer to the source of water grow water-intensive crops like sugarcane and rice while friction develops between the people near the source and those farther away.
- Social problems: because they displace large number of peasants and tribals without adequate compensation or rehabilitation.
- Economic problems: because they swallow up huge amounts of public money without the generation of proportionate benefits.
- Environmental problems: because they contribute enormously to deforestation and the loss of biological diversity.
The Narmada Bachao Andolan
The Tehri Dam on the river Ganga and the Sardar Sarovar project on the river Narmada both attracted opposition. Activists have questioned whether the benefits justified the cost. Opposition to the Tehri Dam and the Sardar Sarovar project has been sustained.
The main reason cited was that the people who were displaced by the building of these dams were not being rehabilitated adequately.
Water harvesting
Watershed management emphasises scientific soil and water conservation in order to increase the biomass production. The aim is to develop primary resources of land and water, to produce secondary resources of plants and animals for use in a manner which will not cause ecological imbalance.
Watershed management not only increases the production and income of the watershed community, but also mitigates droughts and floods and increases the life of the downstream dam and reservoirs.
Traditional water harvesting systems
Water harvesting is an age-old concept in India. Water harvesting techniques are highly location specific and the benefits are also localised.
- Khadins, tanks and nadis in Rajasthan.
- Bandharas and tals in Maharashtra.
- Bundhis in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
- Ahars and pynes in Bihar.
- Kulhs in Himachal Pradesh.
- Ponds in the Kandi belt of Jammu region.
- Eris (tanks) in Tamil Nadu.
- Surangams in Kerala.
- Kattas in Karnataka.
Why underground storage is better
The main purpose of water harvesting is not to hold surface water but to recharge the ground water beneath. Water stored in the ground has several advantages.
- It does not evaporate.
- It spreads out to recharge wells and provides moisture for vegetation over a wide area.
- It does not provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes like stagnant water collected in ponds or artificial lakes.
- The ground-water is also relatively protected from contamination by human and animal waste.
- Three sets of problems with large dams: social (displacement without rehabilitation), economic (huge public money, disproportionate benefit) and environmental (deforestation and loss of biodiversity).
- Traditional systems: khadins and nadis in Rajasthan, ahars and pynes in Bihar, kulhs in Himachal, eris in Tamil Nadu, surangams in Kerala, kattas in Karnataka.
- Groundwater does not evaporate, spreads to recharge wells, breeds no mosquitoes and is relatively protected from contamination.
Coal and Petroleum
Finite reserves
We have discussed the management of some natural resources like forests, wildlife and water resources. Another large-scale requirement in our daily life is that of energy. We use energy for various purposes like cooking, lighting, heating, transportation and industry.
One important source of energy is fossil fuels - coal and petroleum.
Coal and petroleum were formed from the degradation of bio-mass millions of years ago and hence these are resources that will be exhausted in the future no matter how carefully we use them.
The pollution problem
In addition, their combustion pollutes our environment. Since these fuels contain carbon, and their burning gives carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas.
These fuels also contain nitrogen and sulphur, and when they are burnt they produce oxides of sulphur and nitrogen which are major pollutants in the environment.
If combustion takes place in insufficient air (oxygen), then carbon monoxide would be produced instead of carbon dioxide. Of these products, oxides of sulphur and nitrogen and carbon monoxide are poisonous at high concentrations and carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas.
How to use them judiciously
Since we need to use these resources judiciously, we must consider how to reduce their consumption. If we are using them to generate electricity, we should be aware that the efficiency of a coal-fired power station is only about 35 per cent.
Look at your daily use and see how much can be reduced. Use public transport rather than an individual vehicle; take the stairs rather than a lift for a couple of floors; switch off appliances when not in use.
The chapter's last point is the one worth carrying away. Every resource in this chapter has the same structure of argument: the resource is finite, its use produces waste, and the people who depend on it most directly are the ones best placed to conserve it.
- Coal and petroleum were formed from the degradation of biomass millions of years ago and will be exhausted however carefully we use them.
- Burning fossil fuels gives carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, plus oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, which are major pollutants.
- In insufficient oxygen, combustion gives poisonous carbon monoxide instead of carbon dioxide.
- Efficiency of a coal-fired power station is only about 35 per cent, so most of the fuel's energy is lost as heat
Key Concepts
- Sustainable development
- Development that meets current basic human needs while preserving resources for the needs of future generations.
- Reduce
- The first of the three Rs - using less, by switching off unnecessary lights and fans, repairing leaky taps and cutting food wastage.
- Recycle
- Collecting plastic, paper, glass and metal and remaking them into required things instead of synthesising or extracting fresh material; it requires segregation of waste.
- Reuse
- Using things again and again without processing; better than recycling because recycling itself consumes energy.
- Stakeholders
- The four groups with an interest in forests - local people, the Forest Department, industrialists, and wildlife and nature enthusiasts.
- Biodiversity hot spot
- An area rich in the number of species and in the range of different life forms; forests are the standard example.
- Monoculture
- The planting of a single species such as pine, teak or eucalyptus over a large area, which destroys the diversity of a natural forest.
- Chipko Andolan
- The Hug the Trees Movement that began at Reni in Garhwal in the early 1970s, when village women clasped tree trunks to stop a contractor's workers felling them.
- Arabari experiment
- The revival of 1,272 hectares of degraded sal forest in Midnapore, West Bengal, through local participation, worth Rs 12.5 crores by 1983.
- Silviculture
- The practice of growing and tending forest crops, in which the Arabari villagers were given employment.
- Watershed management
- Scientific soil and water conservation to increase biomass production, mitigating droughts and floods and extending the life of downstream dams.
- Khadin
- A traditional rainwater harvesting structure of Rajasthan, alongside tanks and nadis.
- Ahar and pyne
- Traditional water harvesting structures of Bihar.
- Kulh
- A traditional water channel of Himachal Pradesh.
- Eri
- A traditional tank used for water harvesting in Tamil Nadu.
- Surangam
- A traditional water harvesting structure of Kerala.
- Fossil fuels
- Coal and petroleum, formed from the degradation of biomass millions of years ago, which will be exhausted however carefully they are used.
- Greenhouse gas
- A gas such as carbon dioxide that traps heat in the atmosphere; produced whenever a carbon-containing fuel is burnt.
End-of-Chapter Trial Paper & Test Questions
Topic-wise questions to test your understanding of every concept in this chapter.
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What is meant by sustainable management of natural resources? / प्राकृतिक संसाधनों के सतत प्रबंधन से क्या तात्पर्य है?
Show answer
Sustainable management means using natural resources carefully and judiciously so that they meet present needs while remaining available for future generations, maintaining ecosystem balance. / सतत प्रबंधन का अर्थ है प्राकृतिक संसाधनों का सावधानीपूर्वक और विवेकपूर्ण उपयोग करना ताकि वे वर्तमान आवश्यकताओं को पूरा करते हुए भावी पीढ़ियों के लिए भी उपलब्ध रहें और पारिस्थितिकी संतुलन बना रहे।
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Explain the meaning and importance of the three R's. / तीन R का अर्थ और महत्व समझाइए।
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The three R's are Reduce (use fewer resources and avoid waste), Reuse (use items again rather than discarding them) and Recycle (process used materials into new products); they are important because they reduce pressure on natural resources and decrease pollution and waste. / तीन R हैं Reduce (कम संसाधन उपयोग करना और अपव्यय रोकना), Reuse (वस्तुओं को फेंकने के बजाय पुनः उपयोग करना) और Recycle (प्रयुक्त सामग्री को नए उत्पादों में बदलना); ये महत्वपूर्ण हैं क्योंकि प्राकृतिक संसाधनों पर दबाव घटाते हैं तथा प्रदूषण और अपशिष्ट कम करते हैं।
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Who are stakeholders in the management of forests? Name any two. / वनों के प्रबंधन में हितधारक कौन होते हैं? किन्हीं दो के नाम बताइए।
Show answer
Stakeholders include local people living in or near forests who depend on forest products, the Forest Department which owns and controls the land, industrialists who use forest produce, and wildlife/nature enthusiasts who wish to conserve forests. / हितधारकों में वनों में या उनके निकट रहने वाले स्थानीय लोग जो वन उत्पादों पर निर्भर हैं, भूमि की स्वामी एवं नियंत्रक वन विभाग, वन उपज का उपयोग करने वाले उद्योगपति, तथा वन संरक्षण चाहने वाले वन्यजीव/प्रकृति प्रेमी सम्मिलित हैं।
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Describe the Chipko Andolan and the lesson it teaches about forest conservation. / चिपको आंदोलन का वर्णन कीजिए और यह वन संरक्षण के बारे में क्या शिक्षा देता है।
Show answer
In the Chipko Andolan, villagers in the Himalayan region (especially women) hugged trees to stop contractors from felling them; it teaches that involving local communities in forest management leads to effective and sustainable conservation. / चिपको आंदोलन में हिमालयी क्षेत्र के ग्रामीणों (विशेषकर महिलाओं) ने ठेकेदारों द्वारा पेड़ों की कटाई रोकने के लिए पेड़ों से चिपककर विरोध किया; यह सिखाता है कि वन प्रबंधन में स्थानीय समुदायों को शामिल करने से प्रभावी और सतत संरक्षण होता है।
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How does the construction of large dams benefit and also harm society? / बड़े बाँधों के निर्माण से समाज को लाभ और हानि दोनों कैसे होते हैं?
Show answer
Large dams benefit society by providing irrigation water, electricity generation and water supply to cities, but they harm by submerging land and forests, displacing large numbers of people, and causing loss of biodiversity and disturbance of the river ecosystem. / बड़े बाँध सिंचाई हेतु जल, विद्युत उत्पादन और शहरों को जलापूर्ति देकर समाज को लाभ पहुँचाते हैं, परंतु भूमि एवं वनों को जलमग्न कर, बड़ी संख्या में लोगों को विस्थापित कर, तथा जैव विविधता की हानि और नदी पारितंत्र में अव्यवस्था उत्पन्न कर हानि पहुँचाते हैं।
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What is rainwater harvesting? Mention any two of its advantages. / वर्षा जल संचयन क्या है? इसके किन्हीं दो लाभों का उल्लेख कीजिए।
Show answer
Rainwater harvesting is collecting and storing rainwater for direct use or to recharge groundwater; its advantages include raising the water table to overcome water scarcity and reducing surface runoff, soil erosion and dependence on distant water sources. / वर्षा जल संचयन वर्षा जल को प्रत्यक्ष उपयोग या भूजल पुनर्भरण के लिए एकत्र और संगृहीत करना है; इसके लाभों में जलस्तर बढ़ाकर जल की कमी दूर करना तथा सतही अपवाह, मृदा अपरदन और दूरस्थ जल स्रोतों पर निर्भरता घटाना सम्मिलित है।
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Why is coal and petroleum management important, and what happens when they are burnt? / कोयला और पेट्रोलियम का प्रबंधन क्यों महत्वपूर्ण है, और इन्हें जलाने पर क्या होता है?
Show answer
Coal and petroleum are limited non-renewable fossil fuels formed over millions of years, so they must be used judiciously; burning them produces carbon dioxide (causing global warming) along with oxides of nitrogen and sulphur that cause air pollution, so efficient use conserves them and reduces pollution. / कोयला और पेट्रोलियम लाखों वर्षों में बने सीमित अनवीकरणीय जीवाश्म ईंधन हैं, अतः इनका विवेकपूर्ण उपयोग आवश्यक है; इन्हें जलाने पर कार्बन डाइऑक्साइड (भूमंडलीय तापन का कारण) तथा नाइट्रोजन एवं सल्फर के ऑक्साइड बनते हैं जो वायु प्रदूषण करते हैं, इसलिए दक्ष उपयोग इन्हें संरक्षित करता है और प्रदूषण घटाता है।
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Justify the statement: 'Water harvesting traditional structures were highly location-specific.' / इस कथन की पुष्टि कीजिए: 'परंपरागत जल संचयन संरचनाएँ अत्यधिक स्थान-विशिष्ट थीं।'
Show answer
Traditional water harvesting structures such as khadins, tanks, bandharas, johads and kulhs were designed according to the local rainfall, terrain and soil conditions of each region, so each area developed its own form suited to its specific geography, making them highly location-specific. / खादीन, तालाब, बंधारा, जोहड़ और कुल्ह जैसी परंपरागत जल संचयन संरचनाएँ प्रत्येक क्षेत्र की स्थानीय वर्षा, भू-आकृति और मृदा दशाओं के अनुसार बनाई गई थीं, इसलिए प्रत्येक क्षेत्र ने अपनी विशिष्ट भौगोलिक स्थिति के अनुकूल अपना रूप विकसित किया, जिससे वे अत्यधिक स्थान-विशिष्ट बन गईं।
Related Laws & Principles
Explore allFoundational laws & principles behind this chapter. Each one opens a full page — what it says, why it matters, five practice questions and the mistakes to avoid.